I see certain yogurt offerings (Whole Foods seems to have a real interest in these) with “probiotic” bacteria added.
Assuming you don’t have some medical malady, is there any value in this?
I file 'em under “can’t hurt, might help” much as I do my occasional multi-vitamins.
The human microbiome is a hot and sexy research topic, currently, because technology had just gotten to the point that it’s possible to explore it. So the answer is maybe we’ll know later.
My philosophy: If there’s no clear-cut need to change your current GI flora, why do it?
Now, if you know of a strain of bacteria that will happily live in the human gut and regularly excrete opioids or nicotine or benzos or alcohol as a part of their metabolism, I suggest there’ll be a market for such a product. But wise folks would avoid such.
But it could hurt, at least as far as my non-medical eye can see.
Probiotics, even powerful ones like VSL#3, do not appear to change gut flora:
Not really, no, at least according to my reading though I am not a MD. What I have found is that it is a good thing to restore the gut flora after taking antibiotics; there can be some serious side effects to killing off different symbiotic bacteria in the gut. For instance, there was a woman up in Minnesota if I recall correctly that had a life threatening infection that was cured by getting a fecal transfusion (transpoosion) from her husband. There has also been research that shows that many of our immune disorders may be linked to an out of balance gut ecology. Thus the recent increase in diseases like asthma, ulcerative colitis, and chronic eczema in western countries may actually be due to our use of antibiotics.
But I have also read that probiotics don’t really have much in them when compared to a healthy intestinal ecology and are not really helpful in restoring a balance.
It’s an interesting field of study, and I almost wish I could go back to school to become an MD. Modern medicine is right on the edge of making huge strides in this area (understanding symbiotic/parasitic bacteria and viruses) which I predict will be even more groundbreaking that our understanding of genetics.
Wise, schmise! It would be a food supplement so it would be legal long enough to buy me a place in Antigua.
How do you do that gene splicing again?
I was listening to The Naked Scientist podcast, and they were asking a Scottish biologist this very question. Her fascinatingly accented response ran along the lines that any probiotics you’d get from food would be so small compared to the normal level you have already in your “goot” that they really wouldn’t make any difference. However, she thought they could be useful after medical procedures that greatly reduced your natural bacteria … ones that required big doses of antibiotics I guess.
Not all the studies say that.
At least eating active culture fermented dairy does appear to have some benefits, although I don’t see how that translates into added “probiotic” cultures should make a difference.
The impression I am getting from what I’ve read is that our gut microbiomes tend to fall into patterns (enterotypes) based less on what bacteria we ingest than on what foods we ingest over a long term. See here and this perspective on the study (preview linked, quote from beyond wall).
…in Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Which is not most of us.
I haven’t found them to be much use unless, as it states in DSeid’s quote, “it is preceded by antibiotic treatment.” IOW, need to take antibiotics? It’s probably worth eating some extra yogurt. Even if it doesn’t “restore gut flora”, it’s cheap, it’s fairly healthy, and it gives that patient something to do to feel like she’s able to have a positive impact on her health. (But this is nurse thinking, not doctor thinking.) Not on antibiotics and everything’s hunky-dory south of the border? Eat yogurt if you like it, but don’t stress it if you don’t.
I think the jury is still out and studies too conflicting to take a stronger stand on either side of the issue, or to routinely recommend the more expensive probiotic formulations. Time will tell.
A timely post for me. I had been going to ask my doctor whether the hype was of any consequence but this post answered the question for me. I’ve always been suspicious of health claims anyway and I have never even eaten yoghurt (despite the 'good for you ’ claims), but then I don’t drink sour milk either, which is all yoghurt is. Adding a few more bacteria, and claiming benefit to your GI system, only increases sales.
Other things to be suspicious of - colon cleansing, body detoxification (through the soles of your feet).
Bob
My wife has our kids use them (Danactive) so that they’ll be, shall we say, less gassy. Seems to help.
That’s probably an “off label” use, though. 
Seems to me that if your intestinal flora are in pretty good balance, introduced probiotics are just going to get out competed by your personally evolved intestinal bacteria. How can something from the outside compete with bacteria that have evolved in your intestines for millions of generations?
One thing the OP didn’t mention is disruption of intestinal fauna by antibiotics. I was a professional rodent breeder for a few years and found that probiotics really helped when I had to use antibiotics.
But I now think using antibiotics to treat wet tail in hamsters is mostly useless. I did some work with a vet that convinced me most wet tail is caused by parasites. Quinine and metronidazole are better than Clavamox and tetracycline. I would not recommend giving an antibiotic to a hamster, but if you do, give probiotics also. And yes, you can still get fairly pure quinine if you know where to look.
I think the only time most humans could benefit from probiotics is when intestinal fauna are disrupted by antibiotics. But don’t mess around with probiotics marketed toward humans, go for the hardcore stuff in pet supply stores. Not the stuff in the dog department, go for the small animals dept. The two major chains can special order you a jar of this stuff. Your vet can probably get it too if they treat rodents. If a rodent needs a sprinkle, you need a spoonful.