Re: More good news about Probiotics: From "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider"
D.
> "D." wrote:
>
> > Probiotic benefits have long been highlighted for gut and immune
> > health. Products containing these friendly bacteria are now well
> > accepted by consumers in Europe, and they appear to be on a fast
> > track for acceptance in North America.
>
> I'm sure you'd love to make a dishonest dollar
> pimping probiotics on your commercial blogspot
> website, but the truth is much different than
> your spin.
>
> Here's the truth you didn't disclose, either
> out of ignorance or because you don't want
> to offend potential advertisers. You are
> unable or unwilling to tell consumers the
> straight, accurate truth.
>
> Quoting from:http://apha.confex.com/apha/130am/techprogram/paper_37244.htm
>
> Safety and Reliability of Lactobacillus
> Dietary Supplements in Seattle, Washington
>
> Sheryl Berman, PhD, Professor Department of
> Basic Sciences, Bastyr University, 14500
> Juanita Drive, Kenmore, WA 98028
> and Diane Spicer, MS, DN, Assistant Professor
> Department of Basic Sciences, Bastyr University,
> 14500 Juanita Drive, Kenmore, WA 98028.
>
> In this pilot study, Lactobacillus dietary
> (probiotic) supplements in the Seattle,
> Washington area were analyzed as to safety and
> reliability. The contents of twenty randomly
> selected brands of Lactobacillus supplements
> were cultured for viability. Microorganisms
> isolated were identified as to genus and species
> using DNA analysis. Results were compared to
> contents stated on bottle of supplements.
>
> None of the brands tested had organisms isolated
> that were identical to those stated on the bottle
> label. Thirty percent of the brands sampled were
> contaminated with various other microorganisms
> and twenty percent of the brands sampled had no
> growth. From this pilot study, it appears that
> Lactobacillus dietary supplements randomly
> examined in the Seattle area are not
> reliable and may not be safe for the consumer.
> A larger scale study involving the State of
> Washington is underway.
Mark, I have this picture of you as some stooped over little guy,
combing through the net, hoping to land something negative about
Probiotics because I said that I like them. Sure enough, you found
something of interest. I know those people who wrote that and agree
with what they did. They have to keep the dietary supplement business
in line up there, because so much of their future as Naturopaths
(that's a school of naturopathic medicine) involves those suppliers.
The FDA, which just issued new rules for the production under GMP of
these products, has the same concern and these new regs should address
them.
But, don't compare a poster (an unpublished paper) with something that
was published in a medical journal, that's not the way to win an
argument! Your point is a good one, that you need to know what you are
buying, but when you DO know that it's a quality product (as are the
products sold by naturopaths in their offices -- part of the reason
why they nailed these "store bought" brands), you can be assured that
probiotics make a big difference in quality of life. I get mine from
Activa, the yoghurt, because I have nothing to do with "selling"
probiotics.
By the way, I typically drop brand names from my articles, and I did
so with this probiotics piece. The actual brands used were Solgar
supplements, and Actimel yoghurt. That's just for your info Mark so
that when you go buy some, you can get the stuff used in the research
article,
Dave