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It's not clear exactly how probiotics work, as some have

Feb. 21, 2018 by Devin Jones

It's not clear exactly how probiotics work, as some have argued that they contain anti-inflammatory chemicals, which could help. But research on the subject suggests that they are likely far more potent at boosting health and reduce infection than regular antibiotics.

"They're really good," says Andrew A. O'Brien, a scientist at the University of Maryland, who was not involved in the research, and who did not want to be named. "There's no question that probiotics are good at making your body, but they're also ineffective at getting rid that pesky intestinal parasite that's in your stool."

That kind of evidence makes it hard to say what to make of the new research. "These findings may be a little bit disappointing, because they show that probiotics are effective at improving health in both people and mice," says Michael V. Smith, a professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "But there's still a lot of work to be done, and it doesn't mean that they're going to have any big effects on humans."

Smith's research looks far more like a long-term study, looking at a long-range, randomized, controlled trial setting out to study probiotics for gut health. If results hold up, it could be that the new work could have an impact on food-borne infections—whether from probiotics or not. "There's still a lot work to be done, and it doesn't mean that they're going to have any big effects on humans," he says.

The researchers think that any kind of probiotic diet, whether a diet or supplement, may help—maybe even improve—microbiota. But that can only happen if probiotics are available, which means that people should be asking themselves whether they really want them, or whether they really really want to eat them.

They also say that, given the way probiotics work, it's very likely that the new studies could not tell people whether they'd be healthier if they simply stopped eating foods that are probiotics. Still, many people will find probiotics useful in a variety of ways, including getting rid of a host of common gut bacteria, including microorganisms that live on a variety of gut regions and are not present in probiotic supplements.