“Global Industry Analysts (GIA) predicts the global probiotics market will be worth $28.8bn by 2015, even though the market is still considered to be in infancy. “
I like this.
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In addition to the usual yogurt bugs, I am starting to see salivarius popping up more frequently. It’s from the mouth, by the way.
This is really interesting. Small-scale farming was killed by industrial farming to feed huge masses. But could it be that small-scale farming, like it used to be, to feed a local group, say a family or a cafeteria, is making a comeback? That would be cool. Question: does technology and science help make us better “micro-farmers”?
Image of the garden from the article linked above.
When I lived in Finland, not only were there a bunch of live-culture milk products, but there was one in particular “Valio A+” that was specifically recommended for women to balance their flora. Now back in the US, it’s hard not to find live-culture yogurt, and some are specifically marketed, yes, for women to balance their flora. Furthermore, the use of live bacterial cultures for health purposes, called probiotics, has become mainstream enough that you can find probiotic supplements for children in the supermarket. What does this mean? It means that folks are becoming aware of functional foods, of the importance of microorganism in their diet, and that the feeding desire to find a short cut (a pill rather than eating wholesome yogurt) is always a good business. I’ve been seeking out all these probiotic products to get an idea of what’s out there, what the message is, and, for me, always on the look out for practical use of microbes, I’ve been trying to understand what microorganisms are in fashion. OK, so the science behind probiotics is still in progress, so I will not go into that right now. But, going on the premise that yogurt is the gold standard for beneficial live (with microorganisms) food, then my standard for all probiotic products used for digestive health is Stonyfield’s yogurt. Stonyfield’s has 6 bacteria (S thermophilus, L bulgaricus, L acidophilus, Bifidus, L casei, and L rhamnosus). I’d say that most of the products I have seen have one or more of these bugs. There are some proprietary sub-species and I’ve been pleased to see a few products with S salivarius or some other bacteria. For me, the type, variety, and number of bacteria in a probiotic food or supplement is key. And I think it’s just snake oil if the product only has one bug. Nonetheless, I think as probiotics go mainstream, buyers will be more astute as to what they are looking for. Also, I hope that new applications show up, beyond gut and vaginal flora health (I can think of a few). What I do know, is that doctors are starting to suggest probiotics to patients on antibiotics or with digestive issues such as colitis or C diff.* And that’s great. Do you eat probiotic foods or take supplements? Send me pics of the ones you see or take! I could/should create a database of products and attach reviews or commentary. Hm…. not another project…. *Ego boost: A gastroenterologist aked me recently what probiotics I recommended. Ha! My first probiotic consulting gig?
Be an adult. Don’t get grossed out. I’ve read some great papers on the process how our guts get colonized after birth. Also, there are some really interesting papers on how our gut microbes (or lack thereof) are involved in various intestinal disorders. And there are some promising papers on how diet affect the bacterial ecology in the gut. [Sorry, I'll link to the papers in a larger gut related set of posts at some point in the future - you can also just search for gut and microbes in my posts.]
Slate had a nice article on the subject (quoted above). It’s a serious subject and for many, the only hope to get a better and healthier bacterial gut fauna (hence the term, transfaunation). My wife’s a vet and she’s not only heard of this procedure, but performed it on animals. It’s not uncommon to jumpstart an animal’s ability to digest grass by grabbing bugs from one animal and putting it in the right place. And, did you know, some animals eat poop on purpose for this very reason – rabbits, capibaras, hamsters, elephants, termites, pandas, koalas, and hippos – to colonize their gut? And really, folks eat yogurt to populate their gut with good bacteria. Why not poo bacteria as probiotics? I actually think, as we learn more about our gut fauna, this will be come a more accepted course of action for folks with nasty bowel infections, colitis, or inflammatory bowel diseases. What do you think? Image of Kristen Paulson’s Anatomy and Guts Embroidery Hoop Art on Etsy (get your own!)
I had heard of in-vessel composting, but never realized that at least two companies created machines that you plug in, feed with your organic waste (with addition of saw dust), and out comes compost. As far as I can tell, the process is very fast, so it’s immature compost (composting has a final curing step). But I’m sure the raw stuff that comes out of these machines is pretty good. And to me, one could use this machine for the first step and have a larger separate bin for the curing step. The two are:
I am so tempted to buy one. Maybe the manufacturers could “lend” me a machine for review and comparisons (hint hint)? Alas, my wife suggested I build one myself. Gah. Not happening soon. Image from Nature Mill *The picture cracks me up. It’s such a Euro-couple. And she’s smiling at him as he dumps an almost full plate of food in the bin. Perhaps it was some bad cooking? Only, whose – his or hers? Sheesh.
Not sure what to make of this other than the comment that ‘clear-cut criteria’ will be needed to actually turn claims into science.
Cool.
Nice step towards making this happen.
So, hello, all of you who still stick around here to read my ramblings. And, hello, to all of you who wonder who the heck Charlie Schick is and how did he manage to get his name in the NYT? Practical microbiology (and then some) Prior to that I was at Children’s Hospital Boston (as fundraiser and as scientist and faculty – though roles separated by a decade), and Nokia (total hack in marketing and product management). If you’re interested in knowing more of my tenure at those two places, feel free to invite me to lunch or beer. Thinking rather than doing Alas, I have a wide range of interests (see my About page) and I have a very active family, so I’m more of a thinker than a doer. I suppose one day I’ll find the right doer for my thinking and we’ll have a blast. Until then, I’ll keep writing (I managed to complete NaNoWriMo last year) and fermenting foods. As I said before, if you want to learn more, I’m in the Boston area and always welcome a free beer. Where does DIYbio come in? DIYbio also gives me an excuse to talk bio with enthusiasts. How great is that? Do you DIYbio? Have you ever DIYbio? And of course, my standard disclaimer (riffing off of Cringley) On the flip side, this is my personal site. Please don’t flood me with ideas that you think IBM might be interested in. There are other channels for such biz dev, and this site is not part of them. Image from Rising Damp |
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, so don’t expect to find any confidential secret corporate mumbo-jumbo being revealed here. Everything I write here is public info or readily found via any decent search engine or easily deduced by someone who has an understanding of the industry.