[SammyStacks]

Yeah, both the title and content of the arstechnica are spreading misinformation. The mainstream media has always been terrible at accurately representing the findings of a given academic study, but this is disappointing.

The study was conducted with people who had chronic constipation as measured by complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBMs). A bowel movement qualifies as a CSBM if the individual had not used a laxative within the last 24 hours. Prior to intervention, participants had a mean of 0.77 CSBMs/week with an SD of 1.0. That is quite extreme so the results of the study cannot be generalized to the general public.

Additionally, both the probiotic group and control group experienced positive effects, even if the probiotic group didn't outperform the control group. That's extremely meaningful and requires further investigation. Perhaps the belief of taking a digestive supplement caused individuals lower stress and/or motivated other healthy lifestyle changes? Science shouldn't be viewing the placebo effect as evidence that something else is BS; we need to view the placebo effect as a psychological tool to effect positive change.

Finally, the study tested only one bacteria strain. I have not seen any recommended probiotic supplement that includes only one strain of bacteria.

More research is needed; the title is clickbait and the article doesn't sufficiently emphasize the major limitations of the study. Really a shame to see that type of reporting.