Store-bought probiotics are overrated, says expert

http://www.livescience.com/27458-microbiome-surprising-facts.html


The recognition that bacteria can be good for you has spawned something of a craze in probiotic supplements, consisting of live microbes purported to bestow health benefits. Many people take them after a course of Antibiotics . But do they actually work?

"The concept of a probiotic to help reestablish our baseline microbiota after an Antibiotic is a good concept," Blaser told LiveScience. "But the idea that, of all thousand species in our bodies, taking a single species that comes from cow or cheese is naïve." Current probiotics are very well marketed, Blaser said, but there's not much benefit. He does think medicine will one day develop probiotics that will be used to treat illness, but as of now, "it's a very young field," he said. Tweet