Episode 020 - Kristina Campbell - Do probiotics actually work?

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