The Surprising Benefits of Probiotics - What You Didn't Know

[rpautrey2]

The Surprising Benefits of Probiotics - What You Didn't Know
ProHealth.com
by Karen Lee Richards*
December 23, 2011

From encouraging and protecting healthy digestion & elimination to
reducing inflammation and supporting the immune system, probiotics
play many essential roles in our overall health.

With the growing interest in healthy living and integrative medicine,
the use of beneficial bacteria has become a popular topic. And as
research continues to reveal the multiple health benefits of
probiotics, many healthcare professionals have begun recommending them
for their patients.

What Are Probiotics?

The word probiotics literally means “for life” (from the Latin pro,
meaning “for” and the Greek biota, meaning “life”).

The official definition of probiotics, adopted in 2002 by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World
Health Organization (WHO), is "Live microorganisms which, when
administered in adequate amount, confer a health benefit on the host.”
In simpler terms, probiotics are “good” bacteria.

The Bacterial Balancing Act

Before we can discuss the benefits of probiotics, it's important to
understand how bacteria work in our bodies. Here are some interesting
facts about bacteria:

• Bacteria can be found pretty much everywhere.

• In humans, these microscopic organisms live on the skin and in
mucosa.

• An estimated 500 to 1,000 different species of bacteria inhabit the
gut and a similar number live on the skin.

• The bacterial population in humans is so large that bacterial cells
outnumber human cells by 10 to 1.

• The vast majority of bacteria in humans can be found in the large
intestine.

• Approximately 100 trillion of these microorganisms live in a normal,
healthy bowel.
Over the years, bacteria have gotten a lot of negative press. Most
people associate bacteria with the four Ds: dirt, disease, death and
decay. While it's true that some bacteria do cause diseases and even
death, the majority of bacteria are actually beneficial to your
health.

In reality, only about 10% of bacteria are “bad.” The other 90% are
“good” bacteria that aid in food digestion, regulate proper immune
function, and defend against disease-causing pathogens.

In order to keep a body healthy, bacteria must maintain a delicate
balancing act.  It's the biological version of the classic struggle of
good vs. evil. As long as the good bacteria predominate, they can
effectively fight off the “evil” or bad bacteria.

However, when the ecology of the gastrointestinal tract becomes
disrupted, the good bacteria can no longer flourish in needed numbers
and proper balances. It is then that harmful toxin-producing bacteria
begin to take over.

Antibiotics: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

When it comes to disrupting the body's bacterial balance, one of the
biggest culprits is antibiotics. The purpose of antibiotics is to
destroy disease-causing bacteria. The problem is that antibiotics
can't distinguish good bacteria from bad, so they kill both.

Antibiotics are what you might call a necessary evil. To be sure, they
are an important tool for fighting serious disease and can save lives.
But they can also cause troublesome side effects like antibiotic-
associated diarrhea (AAD). And if the good bacteria are not
replenished quickly, antibiotics can leave you open to other
illnesses.

An article in The Internet Journal of Nutrition and Wellness gives a
good description of the relationship between probiotics and
antibiotics:

“A person taking antibiotics is equivalent to pouring bleach into a
fish tank to kill an overgrowth of algae. The bleach not only kills
the algae but everything else that is present in that environment…. It
is necessary for people taking antibiotics to alternate with
probiotics, because antibiotics kill beneficial bacteria along with
the bacteria causing the illness.”(1)
Even if you don't often take antibiotics, you are still likely to be
getting them through your food and water. Giving antiobiotics to food-
animals like cows, swine, chickens and fish - so they will gain more
weight faster as well as to prevent infection - is a common practice.
Scientists are also discovering significant levels of antibiotics in
our water supplies from a variety of sources.

So your body is probably getting a lot more antibiotics than you
realize.

To further support the use of probiotics when taking an antibiotic, a
meta-analysis study of probiotic therapy to reduce the incidence of
antibiotic-associated diarrhea was presented at the American College
of Gastroenterology’s (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in October
2011. Twenty-two studies were analyzed, which included a total of
3,096 patients. The treatment periods ranged from five days to three
weeks, with the average being 1.5 weeks. According to lead authors
Rabin Rahmani, MD and Steven Shamah, MD:

“Overall in 22 studies, probiotic prophylaxis significantly reduced
the odds ratio of developing AAD by approximately 60%. This analysis
clearly demonstrates that probiotics offer protective benefit in the
prevention of these diseases.”

“These findings suggest that all patients who are at high-risk for
these infections demonstrated by recent antibiotic usage, old age,
recent hospitalization, low albumin, and immunosuppression should be
considered for probiotic therapy.”(2)
History of Probiotics

The concept behind probiotics was first introduced in the early 20th
century, when Nobel laureate Elie Metchnikoff, known as the "father of
probiotics," proposed in The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies
that ingesting microorganisms could have substantial health benefits
for humans. In his milestone book, Dr. Metchnikoff documented what he
believed to be a direct link between human longevity and the necessity
of maintaining a healthy balance of beneficial microorganisms within
the body.

Although researchers continued to carry on Dr. Metchnikoff's work, it
moved along slowly until the tail end of the 20th century. That's when
we began to see a dramatic increase in probiotic research. A 2003
article in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews stated: “A
Medline search of the term probiotics illustrates the significant
increase in research undertaken in this area during the past 5 years:
Over 1,000 publications cited, compared to 85 for the previous 25
years.”(3)

The U.S. has been slow to jump on the probiotics bandwagon.

Europeans consume a lot of probiotics because they traditionally eat
foods like yogurt and sauerkraut that are fermented with bacteria.
Likewise, Southeast Asians eat a lot of foods high in probiotics such
as kimchi and miso soup. And beverages laced with probiotics have
become big business in Japan. Despite getting a slow start, though,
the U.S. consumer market for probiotics is now growing rapidly.

Additional Benefits of Probiotics

Western medicine has a reputation of being reticent when it comes to
recognizing the benefits of supplements and other natural therapies,
but in the case of probiotics, many highly respected medical
authorities are acknowledging their positive effects.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Although more research is needed,
there's encouraging evidence that probiotics may help:

• Treat diarrhea, especially following treatment with certain
antibiotics

• Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract
infections

• Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

• Reduce bladder cancer recurrence

• Speed treatment of certain intestinal infections

• Prevent and treat eczema in children

• Prevent or reduce the severity of colds and flu”(4)br />
The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide states, “Since the
mid-1990s, clinical studies have established that probiotic therapy
can help treat several gastrointestinal ills, delay the development of
allergies in children, and treat and prevent vaginal and urinary
infections in women.”(5)

The ME/CFS - Probiotic Connection

A highlight of the American College of Gastroenterology’s 2011
Scientific Meeting was a report on the significant benefits of the
probiotic strain Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 “as an anti-
inflammatory agent” in a trial including patients with chronic fatigue
syndrome (ME/CFS), psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis.

B infantis, a primary inhabitant of the digestive tract of newborn
infants, is considered essential for good health in both infants and
adults.

The double-blind, placebo controlled study included healthy
volunteers, and 27 patients with psoriasis, 24 with ulcerative
colitis, and 50 with chronic fatigue syndrome. The results of the
eight-week study indicated that:

• Plasma levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, were
significantly increased in healthy volunteers and psoriasis patients,
but not in placebo treated patients.

• Plasma levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6
were significantly reduced in all patient groups that received B.
infantis.

• C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were also significantly reduced in
psoriasis, ulcerative colitis and chronic fatigue patients at the end
of treatment with B infantis compared to placebo treated patients.
[Elevated CRP in the blood is a key indicator of acute or chronic
inflammation associated with a wide range of acute and chronic
inflammatory conditions.]
“The human immunological response to B infantis further supports the
hypothesis that manipulation of the microbiota with specific
therapeutic microbes can have a significant effect on host
inflammatory processes,” says Eamonn M M Quigley, MD, FACG, who
presented the findings.(6)

Monostrain vs. Multispecies Probiotics

Many studies looking at the effect of probiotics on various conditions
have reported positive results. While some have failed to find
significant benefits, a number of scientists now theorize that this is
because most of the past probiotic research had focused on studying
one probiotic strain at a time. Since the human gut contains several
hundred different microbe species, they feel it may be more beneficial
for the body to consume multiple probiotic strains and species.

Emerging research seems to be backing up their theory.  A 2004
literature review found that:

• Multispecies probiotics were superior to both monostrain and
multistrain probiotics for treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea in
children.

• Growth performance and particularly mortality in chickens could be
improved with multistrain probiotics.

• Mice were better protected against S. Typhimurium (a Salmonella food
poisoning, most often from raw eggs) infection with a multistrain
probiotic.

• A multispecies probiotic provided the best clearance of E. coli
O157:H7 from lambs.

• Rats challenged with S. Enteritidis (another commonly infective
Salmonella species) showed best post-challenge weight gains when
treated with a multispecies probiotic.(7)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome

A 2008 study investigated the effect of a multistrain probiotic
supplement on symptoms of IBS. The results showed a significantly
greater improvement in the Symptom Severity Score of IBS and in scores
for quality of life, days with pain, and satisfaction with bowel habit
over the 8-week intervention period in the volunteers receiving the
probiotic preparation.(8)

The Future of Probiotics

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
has designated probiotics as a high-priority topic for upcoming
clinical research projects. Recent and future studies include:

• Prevention and treatment of diarrhea in infants.

• Potential benefits for adults and children with irritable bowel
syndrome and for people with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (a
complication of liver disease).

• Treatment of an antibiotic-resistant type of bacteria.

• Yogurt beverages as a way of giving high doses of probiotics to
young children.

• Gastrointestinal disorders in infants and children, including
necrotizing enterocolitis, colic, and irritable bowel syndrome.

• Treating and preventing antibiotic-induced diarrhea.

• Enhancing the effects of flu vaccine.
NCCAM is also supporting laboratory studies that explore possible
mechanisms of action for probiotics, providing a foundation for
clinical research. For example, recent studies have found evidence
that:

• A strain of Lactobacillus reuteri might slow the growth of certain
tumors.

• Lactobacillus acidophilus (a widely used and studied probiotic)
might enhance the effects of a vaccine against rotavirus infection -
the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in infants and children
worldwide.
Summary

Probiotics provide the beneficial bacteria our bodies need to maintain
healthy digestion and to counteract some of the side effects of
antibiotics. There is also growing evidence that they may provide
significant benefits for a number of other health issues, such as
helping to reduce inflammation and enhancing proper immune system
function.

References

1.  Biradar SS, Bahagvati ST, Shegunshi B. "Probiotics And
Antibiotics: A Brief Overview." The Internet Journal of Nutrition and
Wellness. 2005 Volume 2 Number 1.

2.  American College of Gastroenterology news release, Oct 31, 2011;
ACG 2011 Scientific Meeting Poster P650 abstract.

3.  Gregor R, et al. "Potential Uses of Probiotics in Clinical
Practice." Clin Microbiol Rev. 2003 October; 16(4): 658–672.

4.  Zeratsky, K. (2011, September 15). "Is it important to include
probiotics and prebiotics in a healthy diet?"  Retrieved from
www.mayoclinic.com/health/probiotics/AN00389

5.  Komaroff, A. (2005, September). "Health benefits of taking
probiotics." The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, Retrieved
from www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0905c.shtml

6.  American College of Gastroenterology news release, Oct 31, 2011;
ACG 2011 Scientific Meeting Poster P283 abstract.

7.  Timmerman HM, et al. (November 2004). "Monostrain, multistrain and
multispecies probiotics - A comparison of functionality and efficacy."
Int. J. Food Microbiol. 96 (3): 219–33.

8.  Williams E, Stimpson J, Wang D et al. (September 2008). Full text:
"Clinical trial: a multistrain probiotic preparation significantly
reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in a double-blind placebo-
controlled study". Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 29 (1): 97–103.

___

* Supplement research writer Karen Lee Richards is the Lead Expert
specializing in Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, for HealthCentral's
ChronicPainConnection. Karen is co-founder of the National
Fibromyalgia Association and was Executive Editor of Fibromyalgia
AWARE magazine for four years.

Note: This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. It is
general information and is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or
cure any illness, condition or disease. It is very important that you
make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen
without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your
professional healthcare team.





http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libID=16726&Reviewed=YES&vote=16726&t=