Added to a range of products, including yogurts, chocolate, and potato chips, probiotics are never far from the headlines.
According to their proponents, these live strains of yeast and bacteria can help rebalance the bacterial flora naturally found in our gut, imparting a wealth of health benefits.
These potential benefits vary widely, and, it is important to note, not all are backed by scientific studies.
However, there is good evidence that probiotics can relieve acute infectious diarrhea, and there is growing evidence that they might even help reduce the symptoms of some psychiatric conditions, such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Research into the benefits and risks of probiotics is still in its infancy — but it now seems likely that they will one day be medically useful and widely used. Because the importance of gut bacteria is now evident, the race is on to understand exactly how they can be influenced to benefit health.
Probiotics and acute infections
Interventions that are as simple as eating a yogurt are attractive to consumers and physicians alike; however, when meddling with something as complex as the microbiome, gathering and interpreting the data can be challenging.
Gut bacteria come in many forms, and they influence many systems of the body; and not everyone responds to probiotics in the same way. All of the above make drawing solid conclusions about their benefits difficult.
