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The Truth about the Probiotic Craze

Noticed the probiotic hype lately? It turns out there are a lot of fundamental misunderstandings about what this “superfood” is exactly. In fact, the marketing of products containing probiotics is largely imprecise and misleading. Let’s break down the confusion:

Research shows that certain bacteria does help those people suffering from a few specific gastrointestinal disorders. Probiotics also may help prevent some common side effects of antibiotic treatment.

However, probiotics actually have no known benefits for healthy people.

All probiotics vary widely. Manufacturers often choose to grow strains that can be easily produced, not necessarily because they are adapted to the gut or can improve health.

The market is unregulated and advertisers make vague and generalised claims. When you buy a product off the shelf (particularly a food product that claims to “improve digestive health”) you actually have no idea what you’re getting.

(Scientific American 2017, New York Times 2018)

The global probiotic market is massive. It was valued at approximately USD 40.09 billion in 2017 and is predicted to grow to USD 65.87 billion by the end of 2024. There are now probiotics in health products and even baby mattresses!

It turns out this new ‘superfood’ has a lot of misconceptions surrounding it. It’s benefits and role in promoting general health are conspicuous.

 

This is our considered but brief and light introduction to the topic. For further information please check out:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-probiotics-really-work/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/upshot/the-problem-with-probiotics.html

https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/06/21/1527822/0/en/Global-Probiotics-Market-Will-Reach-USD-65-87-Billion-by-2024-Zion-Market-Research.html

https://www.livescience.com/56611-probiotics-myths.html