Do probiotics actually work?

ambermarie

I've heard that taking a probiotic supplement whilst travelling can help prevent (or at least lessen) unpleasant stomach illnesses ... I've been drinking those Actimel yoghurt drinks everyday for a while now (so delicious, I'll carry on even if they aren't doing anything!), and I bought some Travla probiotic tablets which I'm going to start next week and continue during my trip.

The tablets are quite pricey and apparently you can take either one or two a day ... currently I only have enough for one a day but it recommends two if outside of Europe - just wanted to check if it's worth me buying another packet or not. Do these things actually make a noticeable difference?

Nick-H

Discussed at some length, with excellent informed input from Dr Zog, on the avoiding gastrointestinal whatnots thread -->here

Familyonthemove

Thanks Nick .... interesting link.

I've also seen research that indicates the pro-biotic bacteria are inactivated by the stomach acids and so have very little real value.

I would still put my faith in regular hand washing and only eating street food you've seen prepared in front of you over a fancy yoghurt. And if there's anything in pro-biotics, then a good lassi should do the trick for a tenth of the price.

And a veg diet helps reduce the risks.

One thing I've noticed myself is that a long flight will throw our your body-clock enough to cause the odd sprint to the loo - so it may not be what you've just eaten (or un-eaten if you see what I mean)

I met a Royal Marine Officer who told me that when travelling you should eat something very familiar to your guts every now and then to help re-set your digestion. He used to carry Yorkshire puddings and gravy on mountain expeditions. After a dose of particualrly explosive squits in India a couple of years ago I hunted down the ingredients for a full-monty English Roast dinner. Worked wonders!

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ambermarie

Thanks for the link - really interesting thread. I read through ten pages before I began to feel overwhelmed from all the information!

Has anyone else used the probiotic tablets I've got? There's a link here about them - http://www.dtecta.co.uk/travla.html and the types of bacteria it contains are the ones recommended on that massive therad ... so that's comforting! The thing is Drzog recommended that you start taking probiotics 3 months before leaving, and I haven't done this - about a month with the yoghurt drink and was planning on starting the tablets a week before - will this not work as well?

Nick-H

No idea... and, frankly, I think that unqualified chat on these things is pretty worthless. We can all have opinions, but without qualifications in biology, nutrition, medicine, etc, what are they worth?

People like Dr Zog did put some informed input into that thread (and there was a lot of controversy too), but hey, even Dr Zog himself got sick!

ambermarie

Fair enough ... although I thought the purpose of these forums was to get people's opinions! If ten people came along and said they'd taken these a week before and hadn't got ill, of course that would make me feel better, but if ten people said they'd been violently sick despite the tablets and had to be airlifted to hospital, then I'd probably reconsider their benefits.

The website of the company that sells them obviously makes them out to work wonders, so an unbiased opinion or two would be useful. We may not all be doctors but finding out about other people's experiences doesn't do any harm ... I'm going to be taking the tablets anyway but imagine I will get a bit sick regardless of precautions ... I just don't want to get as sick as I did last time when I vomited more during those three months than I have during the rest of my life!

Familyonthemove

I have most of the above qualifications and worked 10 years as a food safety officer before working in the food industry in Asia and Europe .... and I would not waste money on the tablets.

Eat fresh, eat hot and wash your hands. In two years of working in 14 states in India I was only caught out once with a bad case of food poisoning - and that was from a fruit juice stall.

jituyadav

For me, this is just another super food stuff that keeps on propping up now and then. There is no substitute to eating fresh and well-cooked food. I have enough bacteria in me and don’t need to pay for any more.

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Nick-H

Thanks, FontheM

In that big thread, if I remember correctly, we kept returning to the basics of common sense and good hygiene.

Familyonthemove

Hi Nick ...... makes sense to me ...... and thinking that a tablet may help prevent food poisoning could be risky if you ignore those basic good hygiene rules.