Guest guest Posted January 26, 2001 Report Share Posted January 26, 2001 > The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, January 16, 2001 > > Take some good bacteria and call me in the morning > > Who'd have thought they'd hear that advice from their doctor? Yet there's > increasing evidence that probiotics in food and nutritional supplements can > help fight off the bad guys. > > By ston > > If you want to be the picture of health, finish your bacteria -- words of > wisdom you likely never heard from mom. But there's growing scientific > evidence that suggests one way to ward off illness is to consume good > bacteria, known as probiotics, to fight off the bad microbes for you. In > other words, if you want to beat them -- eat them. > > Seem preposterous? It isn't when you consider that our bodies are home to > 100 trillion bacterial cells that outnumber the body's cells 10 to one. The > human gut houses nearly 500 different species of microbes alone. These good > bacteria, called the normal flora, live in relative harmony with each other. > > But any insult that disrupts this balance can tip the scale in favour of > conditions that allow one variety of microbe to grow like a house afire, > while others get killed off. This is why diarrhea occasionally kicks in > during a course of antibiotic therapy. As the antibiotic kills off or > inhibits the offending bug, some of the good microbes in the gut also get > walloped. Consequently, a diarrhea-causing type of bacteria that resides in > the gut can overgrow, making us race for the washroom. > > This is where probiotics, also called biotherapeutic agents, enter the > picture. Probiotics are essentially live bacteria that are consumed as a > nutritional supplement for their health-promoting benefits. They help > maintain microbial balance and prevent other bugs from giving us grief. > They come in either a pill-form, as a powder, or as a component of dairy > products. The most common bacteria used are Lactobacillus and > Bifidobacterium. Antibiotics, on the other hand, are drugs that kill or > inhibit bacteria. > > " Probiotics provide an extra layer of strength, " says Dr. Ellen > , a leading expert on probiotics at California Polytechnic State > University, and a consultant for her company Dairy and Food Culture > Technologies in Littleton, Colo. > > They act the role of " soldiers in your intestinal tract to combat pathogens > [disease-causing bacteria] that may be there. " Furthermore, they improve > the gut barrier by keeping the cells that line the gut healthy, she adds. > > Nevertheless, consuming probiotics hasn't caught on well in North America. > Despite being a multibillion dollar business in Europe and Asia, North > Americans still haven't sunk their teeth into the idea of consuming > beneficial bacteria. > > The Japanese, for instance, drink to their intestinal health with a > probiotic drink called Yakult, consumed by more than 24 million people > daily. But some companies are trying their hand at the American market. In > Denver, Colo., the Dannon Co., a major yogurt producer, is currently > test-marketing a probiotic drink called Actimel. Another company, ConAgra, > sells one of the best studied probiotic strains, Lactobacillus GG, in a > capsule form called Culturelle. > > In Canada, probiotic research is only carried out in a small number of labs. > > Consuming microbes isn't so radical an idea, though. Yogurt and fermented > foods have been around for thousands of years. But the idea of deliberately > taking bacteria to boost your health was spawned a century ago by one > forward-thinking Russian scientist. Elie Metchnikoff was struck by the > long, healthy lives led by Bulgarian peasants, and reasoned that > Lactobacillus contained in the fermented foods they ate was the answer. > > In recent years, however, scientists have discovered that probiotics can be > used to control lactose intolerance, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, > diminish food allergy, reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, > and give the immune system a beneficial boost. A number of studies have > found that probiotics can even decrease the duration and severity of > diarrheal disease. > > Lactobacillus GG was found to be very effective at treating diarrhea in > children caused by rotavirus -- for which antibiotics don't work. > > And just recently, researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute at > the University of Western Ontario in London, have shown that probiotics can > be used to successfully treat recurrent vaginal, urinary tract and bladder > infections, as well as prevent wounds from becoming infected. > > Dr. Gregor Reid, a microbiologist and associate director of the Lawson > Health Research Institute, and Dr. Bruce, former chair of urology at > the University of Toronto, have devised a mixture of two probiotic strains, > Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 for treating > these infections. > > For 50-year-old motivational speaker Jane Boucher Arntz of Dayton, Ohio, > four years of chronic bladder and yeast infections made life unbearable. > " It wasn't like they came and went, " she says. " The came and stayed. I had > a constant feeling of being poisoned from head to toe. " > > During the four years she sought treatment, antibiotics failed to solve the > problem, trips to numerous specialists resulted in recommendations that ran > the gamut from having part of her colon removed, to taking male hormones -- > even to seeing a psychiatrist. > > With no remedy and $180,000 (U.S.) in expenses later, Ms. Boucher Arntz > enrolled in a small clinical trial conducted by Dr. Reid and Dr. Bruce to > study the effect of their probiotic mixture on urogenital infections. > > Ms. Boucher Arntz drank the 3 millilitre probiotic cocktail twice a day, > and within a week the chronic pain lessened. In the two years since the > study, her infections have disappeared. She still takes the mixture daily > to prevent a recurrence. " I had terrible pelvic pain, " she recalls. " I > don't have that any more. I have a life now. " > > Antibiotics, medications, illness, hormonal fluctuations, dietary changes, > spermicides, vaginal microbicides and even sexual intercourse can throw off > the normal flora, causing urogenital infections if the woman's own > lactobacilli is killed off. > > Six of the 10 women enrolled in the study saw their infections clear up > within one week of drinking the cocktails. The findings are to published in > the journal FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. > > With antibiotic resistance on the rise, probiotics can be a natural > alternative -- even a useful addition to standard antibiotic therapy. > " There's a population of women that will benefit from this -- no question, " > Dr. Reid says. > > Putting these two lactobacilli strains to another test, research led by > biochemist Dr. , along with Dr. Reid and surgeon Dr. Bing > Siang Gan, found that the RC-14 strain prevented infection of surgical > wounds in rats. When Staphylococcus aureus (commonly known as staph) -- a > notorious culprit in skin infections -- was added to a surgical implant and > embedded under the skin, all nine rats became infected. But when they added > staph plus Lactobacillus RC-14 (or a protein RC-14 secretes) to the > implant, no infection occurred. These findings were presented in December > at the American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco. > > The ability of staph to stick to its target is necessary to set up > infection. Compounds made by lactobacilli prevent the staph from doing > that. " The compounds appear to compete for binding sites with > Staphylococcus aureus, " says Dr. , not unlike people competing for > seats on a subway train during rush hour. Essentially, the lactobacilli > take up the seats while the staph bugs slip out the doors. > > With multidrug-resistant staph looming in hospitals and the community, the > results couldn't be more timely. " This one is potentially very big, as it > opens up the possibility of an entire new paradigm in the treatment of > infection, " says Dr. Gan. Until now, treating infections has meant either > boosting our defenses or targeting the offending microbe with antibiotics. > But these findings show that we can interfere with the environment that is > needed for the infection to proceed, he says. > > But buyer, beware. If you thought all lactobacilli or other microbes were > created equal -- think again. Like some natural supplements on the market, > some probiotics on the market amount to little more than snake oil. While > most manufacturers put " viability counts " (meaning the number of live > organisms present) on their labels, testing in independent labs has found > that the numbers often come up short of what's claimed, says Dr. . > Other microbes have even been detected. And grocery-store yogurt comes up > short as well -- it has no where near the number needed to produce a > therapeutic effect. Only seven strains of lactobacilli have scientific data > to support their health claims, says Dr. Reid. > > Before buying a particular supplement, contact the company and ask them if > they have clinical data on the particular strain contained in their > product, and not lactobacilli in general. To reap a health benefit, " the > customer has to ask questions first, " he advises. > > ston is a science writer and PhD student in biochemistry at > McMaster University in Hamilton. > > What to look for when buying probiotics > > Probiotics can be readily purchased in the refrigerated section of health > food and larger grocery stores. Unfortunately, many probiotics on the > market are made up of organisms that lack any scientific data indicating > they actually work. Simply seeing the words " Acidophilus " and > " Bifidobacterium " on the label doesn't mean you're getting the real deal > when it comes to reaping a genuine health benefit. > > Yogurt is not a probiotic unless it has probiotic strains of proven > effectiveness added to it after production. > > Since probiotics can be rather pricey, do your homework before you buy: > > First, find out what strain(s) the probiotic contains -- many product > labels lack that information. " Product which simply name Lactobacillus > acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, or other species of bacteria -- without a > strain number -- could be anything, " says microbiologist Dr. Gregor Reid, > an expert on probiotics at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. > > By stating a specific strain on the label, the company is showing some > commitment to making a standardized and effective product. > > However, looking for strain identification on the label can be challenging > for the consumer because the company may use numbers, letters or another > name to indicate the strain. But as a general rule, the bacteria is in > italics and the strain is printed in regular type. > > It might also be helpful to check the company's Web site or contact the > manufacturer directly to find out what strains are included and what > scientific data support the product. > > The most extensively studied probiotic on the market is Lactobacillus > rhamnosus GG (GG is the strain) also known as Lactobacillus GG, said Dr. > Denis Roy, research scientist with the Food Research and Development > Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It's sold as dairy product or in > freeze-dried capsules. Institut Rosell-Lallemand in Montreal can be > contacted to obtain Lactobacillus GG, Dr. Roy said. > > Copyright 2000 | The Globe and Mail http://www.globeandmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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