00:00Why are so many influencers talking about the microbiota?
00:04On social media, the microbiota has become a new obsession.
00:08And around it also grew a market for products that promise to improve our health.
00:15Probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics are appearing more and more in influencer videos.
00:20that talk about digestion, metabolism, satiety and even fat loss.
00:25But before talking about the products, we need to understand what it is that they promise to improve.
00:30The microbiota is, in short, the community of microorganisms that lives in our body.
00:35One of the most abundant is in the intestine.
00:38We know that this community is involved in important processes.
00:43It helps to utilize nutrients, participates in metabolic functions, and interacts with our immune system.
00:50There is even a connection between the gut and the brain that scientists are still studying.
00:55So yes, the microbiota matters.
00:57But there's a big difference between that and knowing exactly how to modify it to obtain a specific benefit.
01:05We still do not have a simple and very precise definition of what a healthy microbiota is.
01:10Nor can we say that changing a certain bacteria will automatically produce a certain effect on health.
01:17And here something much more familiar comes into play: food.
01:21What we eat influences the microorganisms that live in our gut.
01:26A varied diet, with fruits, vegetables and fiber, provides them with components that some of them can use and certain foods
01:35Fermented foods even contain live microorganisms.
01:38In other words, the relationship between food and microbiota did not originate with powdered supplements; it has always been there.
01:45What's new is that this knowledge has begun to be transformed into products.
01:50This is where so-called functional foods and supplements containing probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics come in.
01:57And so many are selling them on social media.
02:00The names may sound complicated, but the basic difference is simple.
02:04Probiotics are live microorganisms.
02:07Prebiotics are the food that certain microorganisms can use.
02:12And postbiotics are preparations that contain inactivated microorganisms or components of them.
02:20And although all three are related to the microbiota, they do not have the same amount of scientific evidence behind them.
02:27Probiotics have been researched for decades.
02:30Postbiotics, on the other hand, are a much more recent category and there are still many questions about their effects on humans.
02:39And it is precisely there where there is a case that is attracting the attention of several nutritionists.
02:44Posbión is a product that some influencers are recommending.
02:48To understand what posbion is, you need to know an acronym, BPL-1.
02:53BPL-1 is the name of a specific strain of bacteria.
02:57Posbion uses that strain after subjecting it to a heat treatment that inactivates it.
03:03That's why the product is presented as a postbiotic.
03:05So far, everything seems quite technical.
03:07The problem arises when that scientific explanation becomes a promise to the consumer.
03:13In various social media posts, BPL-1 and posbion appear related to metabolism, satiety, and weight loss.
03:21of fat.
03:22There are even publications that discuss effects on visceral fat and subcutaneous fat.
03:27Then we asked ourselves a very simple question.
03:29That's really what the studies have shown.
03:33We reviewed the evidence and asked the company directly.
03:37And posbion made an important clarification.
03:40The company acknowledged that some expressions used in social media content were more categorical than the law allows.
03:48available scientific evidence.
03:50For example, there is a human study with BPL-1.
03:54135 adults with abdominal obesity participated and were followed for 12 weeks.
04:00But there is a huge difference between saying BPL-1 has been studied in humans and saying BPL-1 causes loss
04:07fat.
04:08The study was conducted on a specific population over a specific period and compared different preparations of the strain.
04:15Therefore, their results cannot be automatically converted into a promise for anyone who buys a product with BPL.
04:24-1.
04:24In fact, when we asked posbion if the evidence supports the claim that their product reduces visceral fat and
04:30subcutaneous fat,
04:32The company itself acknowledged that it does not allow making that statement in a general and categorical way.
04:38We also asked about another expression that appears in some influencer content.
04:43That the product would produce a recolonization of the microbiota.
04:47The company made another clarification here.
04:50That term is not technically appropriate because the product contains heat-treated microorganisms.
04:56They are not live bacteria intended to colonize the gut.
05:00So, the microbiota is real.
05:03Their effects on our bodies are being increasingly investigated, and these products,
05:08Some may also have interesting scientific questions behind them.
05:13But what a study finds is one thing, and what an influencer can achieve is quite another.
05:18to promise based on that study.
05:20There's an interesting finding here that deserves further investigation, and take this and you'll lose your sense of humor.
05:26There is a huge distance.
05:28So don't believe those influencers on your social media too much.
05:32If you want to learn more about this and other content, visit the Health section and the Health Awareness section at
05:39The Spectator
05:40and follow us on all our social media channels.
05:43Thank you.
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