The Study
Culturally acceptable fermented grain may improve gut health in South African postpartum mothers in a randomised trial
This study gave some moms a special fermented drink and saw if their gut bacteria changed. It’s like noticing your plants grow better when you water them — but we don’t know for sure if the drink caused it, because only a few moms were in the study.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave new moms a traditional African fermented drink called mageu — some got the kind with live bacteria, some got the cooked kind, and some got none. They checked their tummy bacteria and blood to see what changed.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 565 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1More gut bacteria diversity is usually good for health, and lower ferritin might mean less inflammation — but it doesn't mean they're low in iron.
- 2The drink didn't make moms sick or gain weight.
- 3Moms who drank the live-bacteria mageu had more diverse gut bacteria and lower ferritin (a blood iron marker) after 6 weeks.
- 4Their inflammation levels didn't change.
- 5They also ate more plant protein.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The British journal of nutrition
Year
2026
Authors
Anna-Ursula Happel, Katie M Strobel, O. Jona, Janine Fredericks, B. Kullin, Brandon Perumaul, Adeebah Rakiep, M. Senekal, S. Malczyk, J. Nel, M. Fagan-Endres, J. S. Passmore, Heather B. Jaspan
Related Content
Claims (4)
Postpartum mothers who consumed live-culture mageu for six weeks had lower ferritin levels in their blood than those who did not consume mageu, even when their iron intake was accounted for.
Postpartum mothers who drink live-culture mageu for six weeks consume more plant-based protein than those who do not, even when their total calorie intake is the same.
Postpartum mothers who drink live-culture mageu for six weeks have higher gut microbiota diversity, measured by the Shannon index, than those who drink pasteurized mageu or no mageu.
Drinking live-culture mageu for six weeks does not change levels of key inflammation markers in mothers after childbirth, even though their gut bacteria and iron storage levels changed.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.