7 ms·

It seems that microbiome research is always defended here. Perhaps it is scientific, but be aware that a multi billion dollar industry depends on "improving" th

by xll64 6y ago

It seems that microbiome research is always defended here. Perhaps it is scientific, but be aware that a multi billion dollar industry depends on "improving" the microbiome. Here's an ad in nature.com: https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-019-00336-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-019-00336-9

slothtrop 6y ago
I wouldn't necessarily equivocate all of that research. Very little of it, even in the realm of dietary impact, has to do with probiotics, and the research that does focus on probiotics largely doesn't suggest a lasting impact on the microbiome. Notwithstanding that there may be health benefits to probiotic consumption.
- bcpl2000 6y ago
  That is how we here think, but for covert advertising it is sufficient to get the word "microbiome" in the news as often as possible and to stress that it's important. The average consumer does not read probiotics research, all that sticks is "Microbiome causes X, probiotics should fix it!".
  - slothtrop 6y ago
    The average consumer is still a whole newscycle behind on that, but I think it's a stretch to say research in itself is advertisement. Headlines (which often do not even reflect the actual research content) might be advertisements.
im3w1l 6y ago
The other year they were saying autism was related to the microbiome. That got too-good-to-be-true alarm bells ringing in my head for sure.
- caddemon 6y ago
  There is a lot of evidence it is related, however that's not the same thing of course as being able to modulate symptoms via the microbiome (that one poop transplant study was extremely preliminary). I think the jury is still out on that latter idea, but current probiotics surely have no effect. I hope that as this line of research continues industry will adapt and we will start to see probiotics that are A) better at actually populating the gut and B) personalized.
- theptip 6y ago
  That research is still ongoing and getting funded, eg https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2019/05/microbiologist-part-of-1-94-million-grant-to-study-connection-between-autism-microbiome https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2019/05/microbiologis...
maroonblazer 6y ago
Indeed, the paper in question here was sponsored by grants to the APC Microbiome Institute. Not that that means the work isn't solid, but it's certainly something to bear in mind while reading.

by xll64 6y ago

slothtrop 6y ago

I wouldn't necessarily equivocate all of that research. Very little of it, even in the realm of dietary impact, has to do with probiotics, and the research that does focus on probiotics largely doesn't suggest a lasting impact on the microbiome. Notwithstanding that there may be health benefits to probiotic consumption.

bcpl2000 6y ago
That is how we here think, but for covert advertising it is sufficient to get the word "microbiome" in the news as often as possible and to stress that it's important. The average consumer does not read probiotics research, all that sticks is "Microbiome causes X, probiotics should fix it!".
- slothtrop 6y ago
  The average consumer is still a whole newscycle behind on that, but I think it's a stretch to say research in itself is advertisement. Headlines (which often do not even reflect the actual research content) might be advertisements.

im3w1l 6y ago

The other year they were saying autism was related to the microbiome. That got too-good-to-be-true alarm bells ringing in my head for sure.

caddemon 6y ago
There is a lot of evidence it is related, however that's not the same thing of course as being able to modulate symptoms via the microbiome (that one poop transplant study was extremely preliminary). I think the jury is still out on that latter idea, but current probiotics surely have no effect. I hope that as this line of research continues industry will adapt and we will start to see probiotics that are A) better at actually populating the gut and B) personalized.
theptip 6y ago
That research is still ongoing and getting funded, eg https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2019/05/microbiologist-part-of-1-94-million-grant-to-study-connection-between-autism-microbiome https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2019/05/microbiologis...

maroonblazer 6y ago

Indeed, the paper in question here was sponsored by grants to the APC Microbiome Institute. Not that that means the work isn't solid, but it's certainly something to bear in mind while reading.