Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29581563›Full record

ReviewEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2019

A review of probiotic supplementation in healthy adults: helpful or hype?

Saman Khalesi, Nick Bellissimo, Corneel Vandelanotte, Susan Williams, Dragana Stanley, Christopher Irwin

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
104citing papers in PubMed
10.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

104 citing papers in PubMed, 231 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. The island biology of the host microbiome.Trends in microbiology · 2026
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44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Saman KhalesiPhysical Activity Research Group, Appleton Institute, School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia. s.khalesi@cqu.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8208-2518
Nick BellissimoSchool of Nutrition, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Corneel VandelanottePhysical Activity Research Group, Appleton Institute, School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia.
Susan WilliamsPhysical Activity Research Group, Appleton Institute, School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia.
Dragana StanleySchool of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia.
Christopher IrwinMenzies Health Institute, School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
Central Queensland University · AUGriffith University · AUToronto Metropolitan University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Probiotic supplements have a positive impact on several health outcomes. However, the majority of published studies have focused on populations with specific health pathologies. Therefore, this study reviewed the current literature on the health effects of probiotic consumption in "healthy adults." The findings from this review may help guide consumers, researchers, and manufacturers regarding probiotic supplementation. Relevant literature published between 1990 and August 2017 was reviewed. Studies were included if they were experimental trials, included healthy adults, used live bacteria, and had accessible full-text articles published in English. Included studies were classified according to common foci that emerged. Forty-five studies were included in this review. Five foci emerged: gut microbiota changes (n = 15); immune system response (n = 16); lipid profile and cardiovascular disease risk (n = 14); gastrointestinal discomfort (n = 11); and female reproductive health (n = 4). Results suggest that probiotic supplementation in healthy adults can lead to transient improvement in gut microbiota concentration of supplement-specific bacteria. Evidence also supports the role of probiotics in improving immune system responses, stool consistency, bowel movement, and vaginal lactobacilli concentration. There is insufficient evidence to support the role of probiotics to improve blood lipid profile. Probiotic consumption can improve in the immune, gastrointestinal, and female reproductive health systems in healthy adults. However, this review failed to support the ability of probiotics to cause persistent changes in gut microbiota, or improve lipid profile in healthy adults. The feasibility of probiotics consumption to provide benefits in healthy adults requires further investigation.

Indexed as

Dietary SupplementsAdultFemaleGastrointestinal MicrobiomeGastrointestinal TractGenitalia, FemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansImmune SystemMaleProbiotics

Identifiers

PMID29581563
OpenAlexW2791205868

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.