Yoghurts branded to improve digestion health ‘can be a waste of money and do more harm than good’
Research found that 'good bacteria' from healthy gut foods, such as Yakult and Danone, could have little effect as many people are resistant to probiotics and they are flushed straight out of their guts
YOGHURTS containing “good bacteria” said to improve digestive health can be a waste of money, a study shows.
Some people are resistant to the probiotics, which also supposedly counter antibiotics, and they are flushed straight out of their guts.
In other cases the “friendly” bugs in products such as Yakult and Danone do more harm than good, researchers found. Brits spend around £1billion a year on probiotics.
The term was outlawed by the EU in 2012 on the grounds it was an unproven health claim — but the industry continues to contest the ban.
However, the latest experiments found bug-spiked products do not work for everyone.
Scans on the intestines of some volunteers fed probiotic foods for two months revealed no sign of them.
Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science said: “The probiotics couldn’t colonise their digestive tracts. This suggests probiotics should not be given as a one-size-fits-all supplement.”
A second study showed the gut took longer — months not days — to return to its natural bacterial state if a person took probiotics with antibiotics.
Yakult did not comment.
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