Should I take a probiotic? And other gut questions, answered

Life Kit

NPR

Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Business, Education, Kids & Family

4.5 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Research shows that our gut microbiome -- the trillions of microbes that populate our intestines -- isn't just involved in digestion. It's intimately linked to our immune systems, mental health, cognition and more. If you want to improve the health of your gut microbiome, there are specific best practices that can help. This episode, NPR health correspondent Will Stone shares tips on probiotic supplements, microbiome tests, and the most important factor -- your diet.

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Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG are two examples of probiotic strains that have considerable evidence from randomized controlled trials. Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 for travelers' diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG for antibiotic-associated diarrhea for children and adults, and also for upper respiratory tract infections.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	At NPR, there's a little something for everyone.
0:04.6	If you need advice for that big life change, try listening to Life Kit.
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0:13.0	And if you want to dive deeper into your favorite podcasts and enjoy perks like bonus episodes, archive access, and more. Check out NPR Plus.
0:22.2	Find out more and support the shows you love at plus.npr.org.
0:36.3	Scientists know that our microbiome, it's not just involved in digestion.
0:41.3	It's intimately linked with so much of our overall health.
0:45.5	It influences our immune system, our mental health, our cognition, and much, much more.
0:52.0	Some of these links are only beginning to be fully revealed.
0:55.3	You're listening to Life Kit.
0:56.9	I'm Mariel Segarra.
0:58.5	And that was NPR health correspondent Will Stone.
1:01.7	The gut microbiome is a way of describing the literally trillions of microbes that populate our intestines.
1:08.6	A lot of these are bacteria, but we also have other organisms in there, fungi and viruses.
1:15.3	So you want to picture this packed, dense ecosystem that's alive within you.
1:20.1	Now, given what scientists are discovering that the microbiome is important to our health,
1:25.0	people want to hack it.
1:26.6	They want to have the very best,
1:28.3	healthiest microbiome possible. Will says the problem is the science hasn't come quite that far
1:35.6	yet. Scientists haven't quite figured out how to even define what is a healthy microbiome.
1:42.4	There's a lot of variability when you look around the world,
1:45.3	depending on where you live, your diet, all kinds of things. And so unless you are acutely ill
	...

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