A new study shows that probiotics can improve nausea and vomiting during pregnancy

In an unprecedented study, researchers at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine found that probiotics can significantly improve pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting, and constipation

Nausea and vomiting affect approximately 85% of pregnancies and can significantly affect the quality of life, especially in the first trimester

"The cause of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is still unclear

"Nausea, vomiting and constipation during pregnancy can significantly reduce the patient's quality of life

Beneficial microorganisms

Probiotics are called "beneficial bacteria"

Probiotics are believed to support a community of different microorganisms, commonly referred to as the "gut microbiota", and are found in the gastrointestinal tract

During pregnancy, hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase, causing many body changes

Researchers are beginning to determine whether supplementing with probiotics is beneficial to gastrointestinal function during pregnancy

The trial period is 16 days

Probiotics are non-prescription drugs, mainly lactic acid bacteria

During the study period, participants made 17 observations of their symptoms every day, a total of 535 observations for the researchers to conduct statistical evaluation

Researchers have found that taking probiotics can significantly reduce nausea and vomiting

Probiotics can also significantly reduce constipation

"For many years, I have observed that probiotics can reduce nausea and vomiting and relieve constipation

New clues from gut microbes and by-products

Participants also contributed stool specimens before and during the study

This allows researchers to examine whether the biomarkers in the stool specimens correspond to more severe nausea and to evaluate the effect of probiotics on participants who had different baseline biomarkers at the start of the study

One of the findings is that a small amount of bacteria carrying an enzyme called bile salt hydrolase produces bile acids to absorb nutrients, which is associated with more pregnancy-related vomiting
.
Probiotics can increase the bacteria that produce bile salt hydrolase, which may explain why probiotics can reduce nausea and vomiting
.

Another finding was that at the beginning of the study, higher levels of the gut microbes Akkermansia and A.
muciniphila were associated with increased vomiting
.
Probiotics significantly reduce the number of these specific microorganisms and also reduce vomiting
.
This suggests that Akkermansia and am uciniphila may be reliable biomarkers that can predict vomiting during pregnancy
.

Another finding was that vitamin E levels increased after taking probiotics
.
High levels of vitamin E are associated with low vomiting scores
.

"This study provides key insights into the impact of gut microbes on gastrointestinal function during pregnancy
.
Our gut microbiota explains why we eat what we eat, and why the metabolites and products produced by bacteria are important to our health.
Has a huge impact," Wan said
.
"They affect the gastrointestinal tract, skin health and nerve function
.
"

Although these findings are interesting, the researchers warn that due to the small sample size, further studies are needed to confirm the effects of probiotics
.

"Our previous work has shown the benefits of probiotics in preventing liver inflammation
.
The current study may be the first to prove that probiotics are beneficial for pregnancy
.
" "Further test whether probiotics can reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and chemotherapy in cancer patients.
Vomiting, this will be fun and important
.
"