Healthy Bacteria in Yogourt

Did you know that the average 6-oz yogourt container contains about 18 billion live bacteria?
Mmm mmmm!

(The number of live bacteria after you open the container is unknown though...).

But don't worry... the bacteria is good for you!

Click here and here for previous posts on probiotics.





Source

More on Probiotics and a bit on Prebiotics

I have more information on probiotics and prebiotics- here it is!

The first scientist to observe the positive role of played by some bacteria was a Russian, Eli Metchinkoff, at the beginning of the 20th century.
Metchinoff had a theory that the longevity of the Bulgarians was due to their huge yogourt intakes. He explained that the good bacteria (which he named after the Bulgarians: Lactobacillus bulgaricus) replaces the bad bacteria in the intestine. Yogourt was elevated to a rank of wonder despite the fact that Metchinkoff had no real evidence for his theory of for his notion that Bulgarians lived a long time.

Metchinkoff was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 for work unrelated to yogourt but that propelled yogourt to a health staple in the Balkans and Russia. In fact, when the former Soviet Union launched its space flight program, it established a microbiology lab to study the astronauts' gut bacteria. Researchers experimented with giving the astronauts yogourt before their mission and collecting bacteria from their saliva and intestines when they returned to Earth. They then cultured these bacteria that had withstood space travel to make a "healthier" yogourt!
A commercial variety of yogourt made with bacteria cultured from astronauts is still being sold as a health food... Yum!!

I don't think I included the definition of a probiotic. It's "a live microbial feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance".

Yogourt, if made with the right baceria, falls into this category. Traditionally, yogourt has been made with Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus but it was found that these bacteria are acid sensitive and don't make it past the stomach. Acidophilus, Bifido baceria, Bio-K+ and Lactobacillus GG seem to survive the stomach acid and make it into the gut where they have been shown, as I talked about previously, to replace bad bacteria in the gut like Clostridium difficile that's often responsible for diarrhea.
Probiotics can also help with Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, boost the immune system and reduce the risk of allergies if give to children at an early age.

What's a prebiotic? A substance that stimulates growth of specific bacteria in the colon. Non-digestible carbohydrates are prebiotics, ie. fibre, because they're not digested and therefore pass through to the intestines unchanged and collect in the colon.There, they foster the growth of good bacteria and limit the multiplication of harmful ones.

Examples of prebiotics (indigestible carbs) you'll see on ingredient labels are: lactulose, inulin and fructooligosaccharides. Prebiotics are at the forefront of nutrition research because of potential benefits include the prevention of abnormal cell proliferation (that leads to cancer), improved mineral absorption (ie. calcium) and reduced blood cholesterol.

In Japan, they have many foods on the market fortified with inulin and fructooligosaccharides and the trend is coming our way. The studies show that we need a minimum of 4 grams prebiotics a day to get the benefits.

Source: That's the way the cookie crumbles by Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Probiotics- are they good for you?

Don't know if you heard but Danone is being sued for overhyping the science behind their claims of the benefits of the bacteria in their yogourts and using it to sell their Activia and DanActive products for 30% more than other yogourts.

The class action states that the claims on ads and labels for Activia and DanActive pronouncing that the products are "proven" to improve one's "intestinal rhythm" and "regulate your digestive system" are all unsubstantiated. They point to a 2006 study conducted by leading microbiologists and funded by Danone determined there was no conclusive evidence of probiotics providing health benefits.

Many believe that despite this lawsuit, probiotics will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

Probiotics are dietary supplements containing potentially beneficial bacteria and yeasts. Strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the most widely used probiotic bacteria. The live microorganisms are found naturally in many fermented foods including yogourt, and are often added to certain foods like yogourt, cheese, milk, and even baby foods.

Recent scientific work on these living microorganisms in food have suggested that probiotics can play a role in immunity, digestive and respiratory functions and they could have an effect on the alleviation of infectious diseases in children and other high-risk groups.

Increasingly, health professionals, including physicians and dietitians, are recommending probiotics. However, it's important to note that all the research done is very limited and only preliminary results are available... and not all results have been positive.

Here are some of the study findings:

Some studies support the potential role of probiotics in therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's, as well as irritable bowel syndrome.

A 2007 clinical study in London showed that consumption of a probiotic drink containing L Casei, L bulgaricus and S thermophilus can reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and c-difficile-associated diarrhea.

Studies have shown a beneficial effect of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium for the prevention and treatment of acute diarrhea mainly caused by rotaviruses in children.

Several small clinical trials have shown that consumption of milk fermented with various strains of lactic acid bacteria can result in modest reductions in blood pressure. It's thought that this is due to the ACE inhibitor-like peptides produced during fermentation.

Studies done on animals have shown that probiotics can improve immunity.

A 2001 study demonstrated that the use of some probiotics enhanced immune parameters in the elderly.

A recent Australian study (thanks Nicole) looked into whether probiotics helped endurance athletes stay healthy during intense training. There were only 20 participants- elite distance runners. A randomly selected group was given a lactobacillus supplement and the other, a placebo. The supplements were taken every day during their 4 month winter training session. They ran, on average, 100km per week(!). The runners who took probiotics averaged 30 days of respiratory symptoms vs 72 days for those on the placebo. The probiotic treatment increased a substance in the runners that works to fight viral infections.

Another recent study from the Netherlands gave ~300 patients with first episodes of acute pancreatitis either a placebo or a combination of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus and Bifidobacterium, directly into the intestine, for 28 days. After 3 months 24 people from the probiotic group had died compared to 9 in the placebo group. These results were unexpected since some earlier studies had associated probiotics with a reduction in infectious pancreatitis. The researchers speculated that the increased oxygen demands of the live bacteria may worsen already reduced blood flow in very ill patients. They also conclude that probiotics should not be considered harmless and should not be given to severely ill patients with organ failure and on a feeding tube.