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Probiotics
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Probiotics are products aimed at delivering living bacterial cells to the gut ecosystem of humans and other animals, whereas prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates delivered in food to the large bowel to provide fermentable substrates for selected bacteria. Food scientists and nutritionists have accepted, relatively uncritically, the concepts underlying the use of probiotics and prebiotics in the promotion of health. Microbiologists and medical practitioners have viewed these products more sceptically. Much more scientific and medical validation of probiotic/prebiotic use is required. This will entail the use of sophisticated analytical methodologies. Knowledge of the gut microbiota has increased dramatically during the past decade thanks largely to the results obtained from the application of nucleic acid-based methodologies.
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Probiotics are live microorganisms, including Lactobacillus species, Bifidobacterium species and yeasts, that may beneficially affect the host upon ingestion by improving the balance of the intestinal microflora. The dietary use of live microorganisms has a long history. Mention of cultured dairy products is found in the Bible and the sacred books of Hinduism. Soured milks and cultured dairy products, such as kefir, koumiss, leben and dahi, were often used therapeutically before the existence of microorganisms was recognized. The use of microorganisms in food fermentation is one of the oldest methods for producing and preserving food. Much of the world depends upon various fermented foods that are staples in the diet.
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Probiotics may be helpful in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Taking a mixture of several probiotic bacteria reduces symptoms in patients with ulcerative colitis that doesn't respond to conventional medications. The probiotic mixture contained four strains of Lactobacillus, three strains of Bifidobacterium and one strain of Streptococcus salivarius -- all well-known species of good bacteria. Researchers from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada enrolled 34 patients with active ulcerative colitis who were treated with the probiotic mixture twice daily for 6 weeks. A variety of standard treatments had been tried on the patients first, with no help. Remission occurred in 53 percent of the patients and an additional 24 percent experienced some degree of improvement in symptoms.
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Probiotics modulate the composition of the intestinal microflora. The survival of ingested probiotics in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract differs between strains. As a result of their concentration in the lumen, they contribute to transient modulation of the microflora ecology, at least during the period of intake. This specific change may be seen for a few days after the start of consumption of the probiotic preparation, depending on the capacity and dosage of the strain in question to modulate the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Results show that with regular consumption, the bacteria temporarily colonise the lower intestine. Once consumption stops, the number of probiotic microorganisms quickly falls (see Figure 2 below).
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Probiotics, which means "for life", have been used for centuries as natural components in health-promoting foods. The original observation of the positive role played by certain bacteria was first introduced by Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff, who in the beginning of the 20th century suggested that it would be possible to modify the gut flora and to replace harmful microbes by useful microbes.[5] Metchnikoff, at that time a professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, produced the notion that the ageing process results from the activity of putrefactive (proteolytic) microbes producing toxic substances in the large bowel. Proteolytic bacteria such as clostridia, which are part of the normal gut flora, produce toxic substances including phenols, indols and ammonia from the digestion of proteins. According to Metchnikoff these compounds were responsible for what he called “intestinal auto-intoxication”, which caused the physical changes associated with old age. It was at that time known that milk fermented with lactic-acid bacteria inhibits the growth of proteolytic bacteria because of the low pH produced by the fermentation of lactose. Metchnikoff had ... observed that certain rural populations in Europe, for example in Bulgaria and the Russian Steppes who lived largely on milk fermented by lactic-acid bacteria were exceptionally long lived.
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Probiotics have been proven to help with a variety of different conditions. Probiotics have been shown, for example, to reduce colic in babies at a far greater rate than the colic medication simethicone. Probiotics have been demonstrated to delay or prevent eczema in infants and small children. There are all sorts of new and ongoing studies out there that are, on a regular basis, proving the health benefits that probiotics provide. There is even a link between probiotics and diarrhea.
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