Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 15/06/2011 11:52:38

Title: Are prebiotics actually helping your gut flora?
Post by: thedoc on 15/06/2011 11:52:38

We're familiar with the idea of friendly bacteria, and foods, drinks and supplements that promote healthy gut flora are found in all supermarkets. But how friendly are these microorganisms, and what do they actually do?
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1725/)

or [chapter podcast=3272 track=11.06.12/Naked_Scientists_Show_11.06.12_8631.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/11.06.12/Naked_Scientists_Show_11.06.12_8631.mp3)

Title: Are prebiotics actually helping your gut flora?
Post by: CliffordK on 15/06/2011 01:14:05

So the conclusion is?  Put the yogurt back into the fridge, and go have a cheeseburger?

Personally I don't think one should worry much about the gut bacteria except when taking antimicrobial medications (antibiotics & antifungals). 

I think it is overstating things a bit to say that the body doesn't react to gut flora.  It just doesn't react to them when they are in the gut.  It will still react to them in other places, as well as preventing the micro-organisms from getting out of the gut.  Once a body dies, the gut flora can pass into the abdominal cavity very quickly.

Title: Are prebiotics actually helping your gut flora?
Post by: grizelda on 15/06/2011 05:54:09

I think the prolific amount of "good" bacteria in the gut outcompete the bad bacteria and keep it from being a problem. After a course of antibiotics has decimated the gut bacteria, the '"bad" bacteria have a chance to multiply unopposed for a while, causing problems. The bacteria in yogurt would seem to be a good prophylactic to take to reestablish "good" bacteria before this happens.