Essential
- Yogurt consumption increases the diversity of the intestinal microbiota and modifies its composition.
- Bathing in hot springs after consumption of yogurt improves transit more than taking yogurt alone.
- The study suggests that the combination of yogurt consumption and the attendance of hot sources can contribute to better intestinal health.
Eat yogurts boosts the intestinal microbiota. You certainly knew it already … but if you want the dairy to be even more beneficial for the good bacteria that populate your digestive system, you have to immerse yourself in a hot source after its tasting.
This is what a study published in the journal ensures Frontiers in NutritionJune 30, 2025.
Microbiota: a study conducted over 4 weeks
This fairly strange research, it must be recognized, has not come from nowhere. Previous works had noticed that baths in Japanese hot sources, also called onsen, had beneficial effects on the intestinal microbiota. Researchers from the University of Kyushu wondered if they were cut with yogurt, flagship foods of good intestinal bacteria.
They have gathered 47 healthy adult men and women who have not frequented hot sources for at least two weeks. The participants were then distributed randomly in three groups. The members of the first ate 180 g of lightened sugar yogurt containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus after dinner, every day. Those of the second consumed dairy and bathed in a hot source for more than 15 min at least once every two days. The third was the control group. Thus, volunteers did not change their habits.
Sample samples were analyzed before and after the experience that lasted 4 weeks. The participants also answered a questionnaire on their transit. It included 14 elements, including the assessment of the frequency and consistency of the stool, the feeling of incomplete evacuation or the use of laxatives.
Yogurt and hot source: a non-pharmaceutical solution to boost intestinal health
The analysis of the data obtained shows a significant increase in the diversity of the intestinal microbiota in the yogurt group, accompanied by modifications of the relative abundance of several bacterial species. These microbial changes were observed only with him.
On the other hand, both people eating yogurts and those who took a hot bath in addition to dairy presented an improvement in the transit and the state of their defecations. The beneficial effect was more important within the Yogurt + onsen group.
“Despite the reduced size of the sample, our results suggest that the combination of two accessible interventions related to lifestyle – yogurt consumption and onsen baths – could improve health, in particular by promoting the diversity of intestinal microbiota and improving defecation in healthy adults“Explains Professor Shunsuke Managi who led research, in a statement.
“These results are particularly relevant given the growing interest in non-pharmaceutical strategies, focused on lifestyle, in terms of health and well-being prevention.”