[PragmaticPulp]

This is a strange article that has no real sources, makes a broad conjecture about an entire field of research, then goes into tangents about homeopathy, Tik Tok, and religion.

And yet somehow, it feels par for the course when it comes to pop-science microbiome discussion. The entire field of microbiome research has been greatly overhyped despite very mixed and lackluster results in studies. You can go out and find individual studies claiming that certain gut bacteria are associated with certain conditions or that certain probiotics are associated with certain outcomes, but it’s much harder to find those results replicated again or even proven out in the real world, with a few minor exceptions.

Meanwhile, the more philosophically minded writers have latched on to all of this uncertainty and ambiguity as an opening to inject their own pet theories or hypothesize that various disease stages are related to something vague with the microbiome. It’s reminiscent of how misunderstandings of quantum physics are often used to justify quack theories because the reader may not know how to separate quantum physics fact from fiction.

I’m still optimistic that some value will come from microbiome research, but it’s not going to come from wandering blog posts like this.

[david_l_lin]

The associations between gut microbes and disease may be valid, but simply not actionable. The gut has incredible size, and is thousands of niches rather than a bag of marbles.

The oral microbiome, however, is an entirely different story. Decades of research show causal links between oral bacteria and disease. And it’s readily accessible so it can be easily tested and modulated.

Let’s stop using “microbiome” to describe the gut only. The gut microbiome may be full of overhyped studies, but the oral microbiome or the skin microbiome are entirely different stories.