Maybe, maybe not.
In high school, I was quite convinced that I avoided surgery because of probiotics. There was heavy Crohn’s activity in my colon, and adding a probiotic supplement helped immensely.
However 10 years later, I had to fight off Small-Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), probably caused by a suppressed immune system and a tooth infection.
Were probiotics partly to blame, as well?
I don’t know.
New research into cancer immunotherapy suggests that probiotics might not be as good as we think:
The latest cautionary note comes in the form of a preliminary study released Tuesday, in which researchers found that melanoma patients were 70 percent less likely to respond to cancer immunotherapy if they were also taking probiotic supplements. The study group was small — just 46 patients — but the findings support broader suggestions that probiotics might actually upset the balance of so-called “good” bacteria in the gut and interfere with the immune response.
….
Probiotics do work for some people, and some conditions: They’re helpful in treating irritable bowel syndrome, for instance, and other gastrointestinal illnesses, said Dr. Rishi Sharma, a gastroenterologist in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Cancer patients often take probiotics to help mitigate some of the side effects of treatment — particularly diarrhea that stems from chemotherapy. While oncologists tend to be loathe to suggest their patients take over-the-counter probiotics, many with cancer still do: The MD Anderson study found that 42 percent of the patients studied were also taking probiotic supplements.
On the one hand, probiotics might not be as good as they seem.
On the other, you have a bunch of doctors who are butthurt that patients are doing things without their say-so.
Choose for yourself, but definitely think twice before purchasing a probiotic.
Maybe consider adding fermented foods into your diet instead.