ArticleBMJ open2021
'Gut health' and the microbiome in the popular press: a content analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Anorexia nervosa and microbiota: systematic review and critical appraisal.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Pooled it
- Perceived awareness, objective nutrition knowledge, and health beliefs about probiotics and prebiotics among adults in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Microbiome Literacy: Enhancing Public and Academic Understanding Through the 'Microbiome & Health' Online Course.Microbial biotechnology · 2025Article
- GutMicrobiotAware: an international exploratory survey on awareness and understanding of the gut microbiota.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- 'Tiny Biome Tales': A gamified review about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Review
- Article
- Awareness and acceptability of gut microbiome transfer.Frontiers in gastroenterology (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Gut health, the microbiome and dietary choices: An exploration of consumer perspectives.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2023Article
- Article
- Gut Signals and Gut Feelings: Science at the Interface of Data and Beliefs.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
- Metaomics in Clinical Laboratory: Potential Driving Force for Innovative Disease Diagnosis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveExtensive research and important discoveries on the microbiome have led to a growth in media coverage. This study explores how the microbiome has been portrayed in press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences.
designContent analysis.
methodsUsing the FACTIVA Database, we compiled a finalised data set of (N=830) articles from press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences which were published between 1 January 2018 and 11 October 2019 and which contained at least one of the following search terms: 'microbiome', 'microbiota', 'gut health', 'healthy gut', 'unhealthy gut', 'gut bacteria', 'probiotic' or 'probiotics.' We performed content analysis on the articles to determine how often ideas of the microbiome were presented as beneficial, in which health contexts, and whether actions could be taken to reap stated benefits. We compared this portrayal of benefits with critical portrayals of the microbiome.
resultsAlmost all of the articles (94%) described health benefits associated with the microbiome with many (79%) describing actions which could be taken to reap stated benefits. Articles most often described health benefits in more broad, general context (34%) and most commonly outlined actions related to food/drug (45%) as well as probiotic (27%) intake. Only some articles (19%) provided microbiome-related critiques or limitations. Some of the articles (22%) were focused on highlighting specific research developments, and in these articles, critiques or limitations were more common.
conclusionsArticles discussing the microbiome published for American and Canadian audiences typically hype the microbiome's impact and popularise gut health trends while only offering a little in the way of communicating microbiome science. Lifestyle choices including nutrition, taking probiotics, stress management and exercise are often promoted as means of reaping the microbiome-related health benefits. The trend of actionable 'gut health' is foregrounded over more evidence-based descriptions of microbiome science.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.