Probiotics, foods and supplements that contain living...

Probiotics, foods and supplements that contain living microorganisms, are thought to cure problems of the digestive tract by restoring the natural balance of its microbial community. Sales of these products total billions of dollars a year. Explore the topic of probiotics and evaluate the scientific evidence for their beneficial effects. A good starting point is the website of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates advertising claims of health benefits of dietary supplements (www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/default .htm. Source U.S. Food and Drug Administration website, $2013 .)$

Key Concepts

Probiotics

These are live microorganisms, typically bacteria, that when administered in adequate amounts can confer health benefits on the host. They are commonly found in foods like yogurt and dietary supplements and aim to restore or maintain a balanced microbial environment in the digestive tract.

Gut Microbiome

This term refers to the community of microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract. The balance and composition of the microbiome are crucial for proper digestion, immune function, and overall health, making it a central focus when discussing the potential benefits of probiotics.

Scientific Evidence Evaluation

Evaluating scientific evidence involves systematically reviewing and interpreting research studies to determine the efficacy and safety of probiotics for health benefits. This process helps to distinguish well-supported claims from those lacking rigorous scientific backing.

Regulatory Oversight

Regulatory bodies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, play a key role in overseeing claims made by dietary supplements. They ensure that advertising and health claims are backed by appropriate scientific evidence, protecting consumers and maintaining public trust in health-related products.

Transcript

00:01 This question asked us about probiotics and for us to conduct a little investigation into them to determine if they are really beneficial from a scientific standpoint.

00:12 So we want to look at scientific evidence to determine the real benefit that they bring to us.

00:18 So in order to do this, of course, you will have to do a part of this on your own to take this in the direction that you would like to go with it.

00:26 However, i'm going to give you just a couple factors here to consider when you are going to do your investigation.

00:33 So the first thing that you'd want to do is to consider the fact that our digestive system is self -sustaining, meaning that we have enough probiotics.

00:50 And when we say probiotics, i mean this in quotation marks because, let's just write this out here.

00:56 As a small aside, probiotics, we're just talking about our gut bacteria.

01:05 And by gut, we mean intestinal.

01:08 So our probiotics are gut bacteria.

01:10 And included in that is e.

01:13 Coli.

01:14 So i don't know how pro, pro meaning good.

01:18 I don't know how good the e.

01:20 Coli would be if it is just eaten.

01:23 But if it is in your intestines, you would be safe.

01:27 And actually, the e.

01:29 Coli helps out during digestion to break down these large molecules into smaller ones, and it helps out with digestion, so it does do a good thing there.

01:39 But you have to remember that these bacteria are good only in the intestine, but when we start taking them out of the intestine and moving them to different places in the body, we start seeing potential negative effects.

01:53 So if we think about the probiotics, we have enough of those as it is.

01:58 The only situation in which the probiotics could be useful as a supplement is if we say took a large course of antibiotics and we killed all the e...

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