Episode 020 - Kristina Campbell - Do probiotics actually work?

Inside Matters

In episode 20 we chat with Kristina Campbell, microbiome science communicator, educator and author.

In this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Kristina Campbell, a science writer who specialises in tiny things. In other words, all the microorganisms that live on and inside of our bodies. It was our first remote podcast with a guest, and I'm really grateful for Kristina joining me and helping me produce such amazing content for all of our listeners.

We talked about what makes a good probiotic “good” and what makes a bad one “bad”. If you're somebody who consumes probiotics or is thinking about taking probiotics, you should tune into this episode because we really dig into where the field is and what are some of the key quality criteria that you should be looking for if you want to embark on a probiotics journey.

We also talked about where we see the field going in the next five years and even further on from that talked about some of the recent drug approvals as well, which we're all really excited about, plus some tips for parents who want their children to health a gut-healthy diet. This was the first remote recording that we did and it went really well.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:01:20 - Kristina introduces herself and outlines her background

00:05:13:09 - Kristina shares some of her own health journey

00:07:18:06 - Why the interest in probiotics?

00:11:32:01 - What to look for when considering a probiotic

00:14:33:24 - Probiotics vs life beneficial microbes

00:23:09:21 - Role of microorganisms and our digestion

00:32:24:02 - Microorganisms and new drug developments

00:35:13:01 - Fecal transplantation derivatives

00:37:24:09 - Developing bugs as drugs

00:40:10:22 - Should everyone take a probiotic?

00:43:00:18 - Kristina’s books

00:47:50:08 - What about prebiotics?

00:51:58:01 - Can a dead microorganism confer a health benefit

00:53:06:15 - The future of microorganism therapeutics

00:58:15:23 - Pioneers of the microbiome space

01:01:30:15 - Distilling the best information

01:08:31:21 - What’s next for Kristina?

01:11:30:15 - Tips for parents