> "The research group also looked at the impact of probiotics after a course of antibiotics, which wipe out both good and bad bacteria. Their trial on 46 peopl

> "The research group also looked at the impact of probiotics after a course of antibiotics, which wipe out both good and bad bacteria. Their trial on 46 people, also in the journal Cell, showed it led to delays in the normal healthy bacteria re-establishing themselves. Dr Elinav added: "Contrary to the current dogma that probiotics are harmless and benefit everyone, these results reveal a new potential adverse side effect of probiotic use with antibiotics that might even bring long-term consequences." If you only read the first few paragraphs (where they discussed the effect of probiotics on healthy people) you might have missed this important piece of information. This discovery is hardly surprising. Probiotics aren't regulated by the FDA as drugs, but rather as "food supplements", which basically means they have the same standard of regulation as regular food [1]. [1] To be sold as a drug (i.e. pharmaceutical) a product must undergo rigorous trials to show efficacy and find any unintended side effects. Clinical trials typically cost around $60-80 million, which is part of the reason drugs are so expensive.