Eli5: If people have different types of gut bacteria what is the point of probiotics?
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The concept is that not all gut bacteria is as good. Some bacteria works very well in your gut while others will make you bloated, hurt and fart a lot. Probiotics is bacteria which generally works well in your gut. The theory is that by eating these bacteria they will take over from the bad bacteria making your digestion better. In reality though probiotics does nothing in healthy humans, even with gut flora issues. There is just too little bacteria making its way through the upper digestion system and the few that gets to your lower intestines gets out-competed by the existing bacteria. It may have some impact in people with reduced gut flora, for example people on general antibiotics. However this is also not proven.
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