by In a recent setup for the Washington PostDr. Trisha Pasricha bursts the bubble of the probiotics industry of the multibiljoen dollar.
While fans of probiotics-inclusive doctors, health influences and what Pasricha self-proclaimed “intestinal health experts” calls purport that the supplements can stimulate your intestinal microbioma and treat everything, from digestive health to mental health, Pasricha is skeptical.
“The marketing claims about freely available probiotics are largely not in line with the evidence,” wrote Pasricha. Like gastroenterologist, Pasricha said, she rarely advises her patients to take probiotics – which often surprises them.
“They are even more surprised when I tell them that this is part of the evidence-based guidelines: the American gastroenterological Association does not recommend probiotics for most digestive conditions,” she said.
So if we learn how crucial the intestinal microbiome is for our overall health, what should we do instead? The recommendation of Pasricha is in accordance with what many dietitians and doctors nowadays concentrate: a food diet.
Pasricha points out that studies show that diets with few fiber can lead to the permanent loss of certain intestinal bacteria, which leads to a less diverse intestine that can worsen your health. She encourages people to concentrate on a diet with a variety of plants, nuts and fermented foods to feed your microbiome, the various nutrients it needs.
“This proven recommendation remains one of the strongest ways studied to promote and maintain a healthy microbiome and to improve your overall health,” Pasricha wrote.
Probiotic
Pasricha pointed out that the research into probiotics is difficult to trust – with more than 1,000 clinical tests of probiotics completed, there are too many different bacterial strains, doses and results measured for scientists to reach a consensus.
Moreover, Pasricha said that probiotics, like other supplements, do not go through rigorous clinical examinations and tests through the food and drug administration, such as prescription medicines. That means that consumers cannot be sure whether the probiotics are just as effective as manufacturers claim.
“Probiotics … have an incredible potential,” she wrote, “but realizing that potential is still an emerging scientific field in many ways. Each of our microbiomas, medical history and diets is unique. We still need rigorous studies with which we can personalize such treatments for individuals.”
Misin For information both from marketing campaigns and social media also feeds the confusion surrounding probiotics, Pasricha said. Marketers will sometimes extract data about the benefits of one probiotic and use that to sell their product, even if the probiotics are different, she said, “As if all probiotic types are neatly fall under one large umbrella.”
In the meantime, a 2023 study showed that the majority of YouTube videos about probiotics not only endorsed them positively – but most content was produced by amateurs, not by experts, Pasricha said.
Focus instead on a fiber -rich diet
As experts have told Fortune, Fiber is your front line diet defense against cancer – especially colorectal cancer, which increases between millennials and gene xers. Nutritionists have also discovered that people who fix too much on protein intake often miss the many benefits of fiber and can deteriorate their health.
The nutritional guidelines of the US Department of Agriculture for Americans recommend women to eat 22 to 28 grams of fiber a day, while men have to strive for 28 to 34 grams of fiber per day.
Yet Americans eat on average about 10 to 15 grams of fiber a day, according to Harvard Medical School.
Although fiber supplements may seem like the easy way out, registered dietitians such as Abbey Sharp have said earlier Fortune That sources of fiber entire foods are your best option because they offer vital micronutrients, vitamins and minerals in addition to fiber.
Here are some food with a high fiber to include in your diet:
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Fresh fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, apples and pears with skin
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Fresh vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green peas and potatoes with skin
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Full grains such as oatmeal, Farro and barley
If you are not sure where to start, nutritionist Federica Amati told Fortune This trick for building filling, high fiber meals: fill half of your plate with some plant source-one salad, broccoli, baked zucchini. Then fill a quarter of the plate with your favorite low -fat protein such as salmon, chicken fillet, edamame or tofu. The last quarter is for a complex carbohydrate with a high fiber, such as brown rice, barley or sweet potatoes.
Who should take probiotics
Pasricha wrote that there are few cases in which clinical guidelines advise the use of probiotics. They include:
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To reduce the possible risk of infection C. Difficile, A bacterium that causes severe diarrhea while running an antibiotics.
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When patients with inflammatory bowel disorders who have undergone surgery that rescribe part of the intestine, develop a condition called pouchitis.
“It should be noted that the guidelines do not even strongly recommend these indications – and that the quality of the evidence on which they are based, was” low “or” very low “,” Pasricha said.
She added that the positive experiences of some people with the help of probiotics are still valid, but because a small part of the people can experience benefits by taking them.
“In these cases I tell my patients that I am happy that they have found something that helped them and feel reassured when they have bought a probiotic from a company that has been examined by a third party,” she wrote.
Pasricha, however, warns that people who want to take probiotics to alleviate abdominal pain or bloating can be disappointed when those symptoms do not improve – and think they wasted money in the process.
“That is a good time for us to pause and consider the data together,” she said.
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This story was originally visible on Fortune.com
