Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 101 posts

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#21

Post by folli »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #14
reuteriq wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to introduce this to the body without buying it specifically? Or put another way, how did people get L. Reuteri without pharmaceutical/supplement companies growing it in labs?

The article says breast milk is one source. Don’t wean your babies to formula too early! You can buy breast milk from lactating mothers on Craigslist. Good luck.

Breast milk is inherently sterile (unless the mother has a severe bacterial infection). It usually gets contaminated with the skin microbiota during feeding.

So no, I wouldn't count on L. reuteri being found in a random sample of breast milk.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#22

Post by folli »

reuteriq wrote: post #11
jimbru wrote: post #2

For anyone interested in L. Reuteri, you can buy it in the U.S. as Gerber probiotic drops ( https://medical.gerber.com/products/supplements/soothe-colic... ). Marketed for babies but obviously works on adults too. Last I checked Gerber had an exclusive license on U.S. distribution of this bacterium—there’s a Swedish company, BioGaia, that IIRC is the original patent holder.

Is it possible to introduce this to the body without buying it specifically? Or put another way, how did people get L. Reuteri without pharmaceutical/supplement companies growing it in labs?

Labs usually get them from bacterial strain collections, e.g https://www.atcc.org/search#q=lactobacillus%20reuteri&sort=r...

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#23

Post by folli »

milofeynman wrote: post #8
jimbru wrote: post #2

For anyone interested in L. Reuteri, you can buy it in the U.S. as Gerber probiotic drops ( https://medical.gerber.com/products/supplements/soothe-colic... ). Marketed for babies but obviously works on adults too. Last I checked Gerber had an exclusive license on U.S. distribution of this bacterium—there’s a Swedish company, BioGaia, that IIRC is the original patent holder.

Why can you patent a naturally occurring bacteria?

You usually patent the use of such bacteria, not the bacteria per se.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#24

Post by g_log »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #19
chasebank wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been in deep research after reading that comment. Thought it was interesting this story popped up today. Coincidence or astroturf? Been dealing with gastro issues for 4+ years now. I'll report back after I take the stuff for a month.

Hi OP of the comment here. I linked a bunch of studies as well as providing my own anecdotal evidence that this stuff worked well enough that I had IBS symptoms reversed by taking this probiotic. My friends who I have introduced this to really like it, too. I'm actually super interested in learning how to make yogurt with it now to help people I know who may be suffering out some. I hear that's a really easy way to m…

+1 on making the yogurt. I have been making L. reuteri yogurt (or fermented milk, technically) for a few months. I started with some BioGaia Gastrus tablets in batch 1 and now just use a tablespoon or two of batch n - 1.

I recommend getting a sous vide device for precise temperature control. Initially, I used a the "Yogurt" function on an Instant Pot pressure cooker and about half of the batches failed, separating into whey and curds.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#25

Post by ornornor »

candiddevmike wrote: post #4
jimbru wrote: post #2

For anyone interested in L. Reuteri, you can buy it in the U.S. as Gerber probiotic drops ( https://medical.gerber.com/products/supplements/soothe-colic... ). Marketed for babies but obviously works on adults too. Last I checked Gerber had an exclusive license on U.S. distribution of this bacterium—there’s a Swedish company, BioGaia, that IIRC is the original patent holder.

You mean the ones on Amazon are fake?

> You mean the ones on Amazon are fake?

That’s unheard of!

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#26

Post by joe-collins »

folli wrote: post #21
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says breast milk is one source. Don’t wean your babies to formula too early! You can buy breast milk from lactating mothers on Craigslist. Good luck.

Breast milk is inherently sterile (unless the mother has a severe bacterial infection). It usually gets contaminated with the skin microbiota during feeding. So no, I wouldn't count on L. reuteri being found in a random sample of breast milk.

Breast milk is not sterile.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643565/

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#27

Post by v4dok »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #20

Just reposting my original comment which may have inspired this post a few days ago for the links: I had really bad IBS from consuming water on a tropical island in Panama one time and suffered for a few years with even my doctor friend telling me "Damn that sucks, not much you can do except manage". Pretty horrible symptoms until I discovered L. Reuteri. [1] I read that it's been a bacteria that was more commonly fo…

There was once a research group in a university that found a specific diet helping/curing crohn's. However a food/health conglomerate with a product in the market for the disease paid the professor to shelf the research and it never saw the light of day.

Speaking with one of the researchers he keeps telling me that food diversity and gut microbiome are extremely important for all shorts of things. So your comment doesn't surprise me, I am glad you became better.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#28

Post by folli »

joe-collins wrote: post #26
folli wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Breast milk is inherently sterile (unless the mother has a severe bacterial infection). It usually gets contaminated with the skin microbiota during feeding. So no, I wouldn't count on L. reuteri being found in a random sample of breast milk.

Breast milk is not sterile. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643565/

That's hotly debated. Even the study you cite cannot rule out skin contamination.

But unequivocally showing the existence of entero-mammary pathway (translocation of maternal gut bacteria from the gut to the mammary glands) would be very exciting news indeed.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#29

Post by adrianN »

v4dok wrote: post #27
jamal-kumar wrote: post #20

Just reposting my original comment which may have inspired this post a few days ago for the links: I had really bad IBS from consuming water on a tropical island in Panama one time and suffered for a few years with even my doctor friend telling me "Damn that sucks, not much you can do except manage". Pretty horrible symptoms until I discovered L. Reuteri. [1] I read that it's been a bacteria that was more commonly fo…

There was once a research group in a university that found a specific diet helping/curing crohn's. However a food/health conglomerate with a product in the market for the disease paid the professor to shelf the research and it never saw the light of day. Speaking with one of the researchers he keeps telling me that food diversity and gut microbiome are extremely important for all shorts of things. So your comment doe…

This reads like a classic "Big Pharma" conspiracy tale without further substantiation.

Re: Role of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Human Health and Diseases

#30

Post by sooheon »

v4dok wrote: post #27
jamal-kumar wrote: post #20

Just reposting my original comment which may have inspired this post a few days ago for the links: I had really bad IBS from consuming water on a tropical island in Panama one time and suffered for a few years with even my doctor friend telling me "Damn that sucks, not much you can do except manage". Pretty horrible symptoms until I discovered L. Reuteri. [1] I read that it's been a bacteria that was more commonly fo…

There was once a research group in a university that found a specific diet helping/curing crohn's. However a food/health conglomerate with a product in the market for the disease paid the professor to shelf the research and it never saw the light of day. Speaking with one of the researchers he keeps telling me that food diversity and gut microbiome are extremely important for all shorts of things. So your comment doe…

The relationship between diet, microbiome, and health is fascinating.

Another metabolite of L. reuteri is ergothioneine, which is hypothesized to be a "longevity vitamin"[1] by biologist Bruce Ames[2]. Plants and animals cannot synthesize it, only fungi and bacteria, but it is found in every cell in our body including in high concentrations in mitochondria. It appears to be important enough that mammals have evolved a specialized transporter for uptake of this compound (SLC22A4), and mutations in this gene are associated with Crohn's disease.

Low levels of it have been linked to cognitive impairment, CVD, even depression and sleep disorders[3].

Macros aren't everything when it comes to diet, there's a whole universe of micronutrient interactions ongoing in our cells every day. Since we are in a position of relatively near total ignorance, I agree that we should pursue food diversity by default.

[1] https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1809045115 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Ames#Notable_awards [3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-0855-1

Post reply on HN