With suspicion surrounding staples such as eggs and the humble potato, along with the reconsideration of fats as not so bad, and the belated demonisation of the same sugars which were once marketed as beneficial – it’s no wonder consumers are becoming apprehensive about following advice on what they should, or should not put on their plates.
One of the more recently established buzzwords within food and nutrition has been probiotics – and the idea that you can help to “rebalance” your gut bacteria by adding a bit of good bacteria every day through the use of cultured consumer products. This has led to many people embracing a more “cultured” lifestyle by making sure that they have their daily dose of probiotic yogurt drink or supplement. But now, new research questions whether shop bought probiotics actually make any difference to our gut health at all.
The review of previous research on the topic, conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, found no evidence that probiotics improve the balance of gut bacteria in healthy adults. While further clinical research is required to dig deeper into these findings, the results certainly contribute to the broader lingering concern that products marketed as healthy may not be so good for your health (or your pocket) after all.
The feeling that many of us may have been duped into buying “all singing, all dancing” probiotic brands comes at a time when people are increasingly migrating away from the supermarket to instead embrace homemade produce – including the use of home brewed fermented foods for hopes of a healthier gut.
