Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/22/good-belly-plusshot-drink-pack.html
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Couldn’t they have done something about the untreated-sewage appearance?
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“Good Belly” “enjoy puking every day…”
So this is pretty much explicitly targeted at bulimics, right?
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That’s why they went with a smile
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I read that as "good belly pusshot.
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At least it’s not shaped like an anus
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It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. We intentionally made the business end look like a face for it to expel product. Cheerfully.
There was a comic in the 80’s who did this with Parmesan containers.
That makes this hack.
The NIH’s statement says that probiotics show evidence of being helpful for diarrhea and IBS and haven’t been studied enough to say how effective they are for other conditions.
A Vice article mischaracterizes one survey of studies that showed no effect on already-healthy fecal bacteria populations as concluding that probiotics are “useless.” Here’s what one of those studies actually concluded:
Probiotics are effective treatments for IBS, although which individual species and strains are the most beneficial remains unclear.
And another:
Altogether, various studies demonstrate that probiotic administration may confer beneficial effects in the prevention and treatment of obesity, inflammation and other associated metabolic disorders through various mechanisms including direct effects on mucosal barrier and surrounding cells in particular, that can impede on chronic inflammation.
Think I’ll stick with the NIH.
And many strains may do absolutely nothing. It is, pun intended, a crapshoot. Eventually, they’ll figure it out, but right now, you’re pretty much throwing your money down the toilet. Oops. Did it again.
Okay. From the NIH website:
No evidence probiotics are beneficial for healthy adults
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I’ll stick with the NIH as well and add on that selling probiotics as supplements with structure function claims that it is useful for treating diseases that can’t be well substantiated with the current research is indistinguishable from fraud.
Much like most other supplements granted a free out by the DHSEA.
These company’s main marketing demo isn’t people with IBS. It’s healthy people their product has no evidence of being useful for. Besides making your excretion more expensive.
But they help Jamie Lee Curtis poop!
That’s some what inline with the take away I’ve gotten. There is some evidence that probiotics work. But only very particular strains. And administered properly. However the vast majority of products out there include the wrong strains. And ingestion doesn’t appear to be a great way to get them where they need to be. I’ve heard it suggested that suppositories are the only effective way, and that (though there are other bacteria that will work) human gut bacteria are the most effective. Which is how we ended up at doody transplants.
ETA: To be a bit wordier about it: Seems like the base concept is potentially sound. And that even before you could buy it in pineapple yogurt form (is there any less appetizing thing than pineapple yogurt to help you poop?) the concept had its origins in legitimate and promising research. But like most everything the supplement industry and standard large brand marketing warped it into something wholly different. IIRC the yogurt business was on a big down trend when probiotics hit the scene. Years of FAT/DAIRY BAD MAKE YOU FAT had a negative impact. So we started to see gogurt. The next big hit/yogurt sales pitch was probiotics. Then Greek, now Scandinavian/Skyr. Its just that probiotics got CAM traction and managed to stick around even when it ceased to be a viable yogurt sales strategy.
So Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t talk about her poops on TV anymore. But your yoga instructor knows you can cure your shingles with these asperwhatsits tablets.
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That’s the same thing as saying vitamin supplements are useless for people whose diets provide adequate vitamins.
That may be who winds up buying the stuff, but they’re pretty clearly marketed towards people with digestive problems, just like Metamucil or Pepto-Bismol. If someone decides to chew a couple of Tums every morning even though they’re not expecting heartburn, fine, they’re wasting money, but that doesn’t mean Tums is useless.
Yes, healthy people with “occasional irregularity” (to exactly quote the commercials), which is nearly everyone. What a scam.
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