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Comment by spenrose | Hacker News Reader

N=26. No control group eating, say, lots of low-inulin vegetables. Highlighting studies such as this one is not the right way to popularize science. This study should be of interest to other researchers. Once N is several orders of magnitude higher and lots of comparison groups have been included, then tell a general audience what's going on.

PS related to "inulin-rich" is "high FODMAP".

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they already state those in the paper: "Our trial had some limitations, including the absence of a control group (each individual being their own control in our study), the limited number of subjects, their young age (leading to extrapolation to the aging population), and the decision to focus on hydrogen-producing individuals as an inclusion criterion. However, we can clearly conclude that, by increasing the consumption of selected vegetables, it is possible to boost the intake of fructans and thereby create a shift in the gut microbiota composition. "

I think spenrose is saying “We shouldn’t be upvoting this” or maybe “I hope newspapers don’t report on this like it’s a clear, solid answer”, not “This paper is flawed in ways that the authors didn’t recognize”.

Personally I’m fine with this being on HN because I think this audience understands issues around low N (and commentators do a good job of pointing them out), but I agree that it would be problematic if this were picked up by the New York Times or something.

That is what I'm saying.

"this audience understands ...": 1. I think a quick scan of their responses will refute that, but in any case 2. my point is that there is no value to this study for non-researchers. General sophistication doesn't matter.

> PS related to "inulin-rich" is "high FODMAP".

Not sure what you're implying here.

Not implying, just informing, for those who may not make the connection.

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