probiotics

An employee of Tae-Gu Kimchi roughly chops heads of napa cabbage according to Patrice Cunningham's family recipe.

How hardworking microbes ferment cabbage into kimchi

5:00am August 13, 2023

by Pien Huang

An age-old technique transforms vegetables and spices into a popular condiment with a zesty, funky taste. The key? Nurturing the right community of microbes. Here's how the magic happens.

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Sodas like Poppi and Olipop have added prebiotic ingredients intended to help nourish your gut bacteria.

Health & Safety

Prebiotic sodas promise to boost your gut health. Here's what to eat instead

9:00am August 08, 2023

by Maria Godoy

You don't have to shell out for fancy sodas. It's easy to fill your plate with fiber, a dietary hero that feeds your gut microbes and prevents disease.

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One researcher said parents would be better off spending their money on good food for their kids instead of probiotics.

Health & Safety

Probiotics Found To Be Ineffective For Easing Symptoms Of Kids' Stomach Bugs

5:00pm November 21, 2018

by Rob Stein

Giving probiotics to children with gastroenteritis didn't help reduce diarrhea and vomiting, according to the findings of two clinical trials designed to test the popular products.

Probiotics Sourced From Baby Poop Could Improve Gut Health

7:00am August 29, 2018

by Eddie Garcia

If you have an infant, you're probably all too familiar with the origin of this treatment.

Yep, it's baby poop.

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Supplements which contain "good bacteria" known as probiotics have now become popular for kids and babies. But the jury is out on how well many of them work.

Probiotics For Babies And Kids? New Research Explores Good Bacteria

5:35am April 30, 2018

by Allison Aubrey

Sales of probiotics are soaring. While some studies on this beneficial bacteria show it can treat specific health issues in children, scientists are exploring how it may help gut health more broadly.

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Michele Comisky of Vienna, Va., enrolled her 8-year-old son, Jackson, in a study to test the value of probiotics in preventing the gut distress often experienced when taking antibiotics.

Could Probiotics Protect Kids From A Downside Of Antibiotics?

7:26pm December 11, 2017

by Rob Stein

Many marketing claims about the potential benefits of probiotics have raced ahead of the science, say researchers who are now trying to catch up. One NIH study is investigating kids' gut microbes.

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Probiotic Bacteria Could Protect Newborns From Deadly Infection

6:51pm August 16, 2017

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Each year more than 600,000 babies die of sepsis. Researchers have found a simple way to prevent it: Feed babies probiotic bacteria that are common in kimchi, pickles and other fermented vegetables.

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Eating Yogurt Is Not Enough: Rebalancing The Ecosystem Of 'The Microbes Within Us'

1:28pm August 18, 2016

Ed Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes, says someday we might be able to improve our health by taking probiotics, but "we are still in the very early stages of working out how to do this."

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Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Escherichia coli bacteria (green) taken from the small intestine of a child. E. coli are rod-shaped bacteria that are part of the normal flora of the human gut.

How The Microbes Inside Us Went From Enemies To Purported Superhealers

1:05pm August 09, 2016

by Carolyn Beans

Science writer Ed Yong talks about his new book, which looks at diet and the microbiome and whether poop transplants and probiotics are all they're cracked up to be.

It's not just kombucha and yogurt: Probiotics are now showing up in dozens of packaged foods. But what exactly do these designer foods with friendly flora actually offer — besides a high price tag?

Health & Safety

Do We Really Need Probiotics In Our Coffee, Granola And Nut Butter?

1:01pm April 19, 2016

by Jill Neimark

It's not just kombucha and yogurt: Probiotics are now showing up in dozens of packaged foods. But what exactly do these designer foods with friendly flora actually offer — besides a high price tag?