Probiotic ‘good’ bacteria can turn into ‘bad’ bacteria in your stomach
Thousands of people swear by probiotics to boost their health – but the ‘good bacteria’ found in probiotic products can actually evolve in our stomachs.
Even a couple of hours later, the bacteria in your gut could have changed (and there’s a chance they’ll have evolved into something that could harm you).
Researchers fed mice a strain of E Coli known to help with acute diarrhoea in children – and tested their stomachs again five weeks later.
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The bacteria had changed, especially in mice that ate unhealthy ‘Western-style’ diets, acquiring mutations to help them remain the gut and consume more carbs.
Others had also gained low-level antibiotic resistance.
Researcher Gautam Dantas said, ‘If we’re going to use living things as medicines, we need to recognise that they’re going to adapt, and that means that what you put in your body is not necessarily what’s going to be there even a couple hours later.
‘There is no microbe out there that is immune to evolution.
The researchers say the find could be used to design better bacteria for use in probiotics.
Dantas said, ‘We can use the principles of evolution to design a better therapeutic that is carefully tailored to the people who need it. This is an opportunity, not a problem.’
