Probiotic News

Moderate daily consumption of yoghurt prevents thickening of the carotid artery and keeps heart disease at bay.

Dietician Kerry Ivey from Sir Charles Gardener Hospital said lack of research into the effect of dairy products on cartoid thickening agent CCA-IMT necessitated the study.

"In general, dairy products get a bit of a bad rap in regard to cardiovascular disease, but there has been a demonstrated cardiovascular benefit in probiotic and yoghurt consumption," adds Ivey, according to the journal American Society for Nutrition.  More...

A review of the experimental and clinical studies pertaining to the health benefits of probiotics appeared in the journal Nutrition Reviews in July 2011.1 Over the years, there have been many claims and theories about the health benefits of probiotics. The article by Taylor Wallace and fellow researchers is most helpful in bringing practitioners up to date as to the evidence-based use of probiotics, particularly with respect to their potential application in clinical practice. Let's review the clinically relevant points brought forward by Wallace, et al., as a means to help practitioners incorporate safe, responsible and effective probiotic recommendations into their daily practice.

Probiotic Supplementation Benefits: An Overview

The human large intestine houses more than 1,000 different types of bacteria, known as microflora. Studies in recent years have shown that supplementation with health-promoting strains of bacteria can exert beneficial effects in terms of preventing certain ailments and helping to better manage others.  More...

A PERTH study has found that yoghurt may be beneficial in preventing carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Those with a high to moderate yoghurt consumption of 100grams per day or above had significantly lower CCA-IMT than those with yoghurt consumption of 100grams per day or less. Image: flickr Eliza Adam

Researchers at Sir Charles Gardener Hospital found that moderate daily consumption of yoghurt prevents thickening of the carotid artery while the same consumption of milk and cheese had little effect in reducing CCA-IMT.  More...

Probiotic pills ease irritable bowel syndrome and other stomach problems more effectively than yogurt with probiotics, a recent survey of Consumer Reports subscribers suggests. Probiotics are helpful bacteria that naturally occur in the intestines. Other recent research concluded that probiotics, in yogurt or pills, might also help prevent colds.

In the Consumer Reports survey, 1,019 people said they took probiotic supplements to ease their stomach problems and 1,121 people said they consumed yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus, a common probiotic. A third of the supplement users said the probiotic helped a lot, compared with 17 percent and 20 percent of those who consumed the yogurt for their IBS or another digestive disorder, respectively. Among people who used probiotics for their general health, those who took pills were more likely than those who consumed yogurt to get probiotics on all or most days.

Respondents said that neither supplements nor yogurt worked as well as prescription drugs.  More...

Probiotic bacteria may lessen anxiety and depression-related disorders, according to the latest research, writes SUZANNE CAMPBELL

WHAT WE EAT can promote feelings of wellness and pleasure, and according to recent research conducted at University College Cork, foods containing probiotic bacteria may have potential in treating anxiety and depression- related disorders.

The research, which was carried out by Dr Javier Bravo, Prof John Cryan and their colleagues at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre in UCC, found that probiotic bacteria can influence neurotransmitters and potentially ease feelings of anxiety or depression.  More...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of probiotics on the prevention of problems with bowel movements malnutrition and infection.

DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

SETTING: Peripheral Geriatric Hospital.  More...

(Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who regularly have milk or yogurt with "good" bacteria may be less likely to suffer the late-pregnancy complication known as pre-eclampsia, a new study finds.

Pre-eclampsia occurs when a woman has a sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy. Other signs include protein in the urine and swelling in the face and hands.

The disorder, which affects about five percent of all pregnant women, can be dangerous if unrecognized: it may progress to the rare condition eclampsia, which can cause the mother to have seizures or fall into a coma.  More...

MedWire News: Consuming probiotics can have a significant cholesterol-lowering effect in individuals with high, borderline high, and normal cholesterol levels, shows a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

As reported in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases, the mean net reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides associated with consumption of probiotics were 6.40, 4.90, 0.11, and 3.95 mg/dl (0.17, 0.13, 0.00, and 0.04 mmol/l), respectively.

Probiotics are “living micro-organisms,” explain the Chinese researchers, which, upon ingestion in certain numbers, can exert health effects “beyond inherent basic nutrition.”  More...

A recent study suggests that the good bacteria that is found in yogurt, which has displayed a great many benefits already, may even lower rates of depression!

In this particular study, mice that were fed lactobacillus (one type of “good bacteria”) for 28 days displayed a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression when compared to mice that were not fed lactobacillus.

These positive results are attributed to chemical changes in the brains of the mice as a result of the lactobacillus consumption.  More...

Probiotic pills ease irritable bowel syndrome and other stomach problems more effectively than yogurt with probiotics, a recent survey of Consumer Reports subscribers suggests. Probiotics are helpful bacteria that naturally occur in the intestines. Other recent research concluded that probiotics, in yogurt or pills, might also help prevent colds.

In the Consumer Reports survey, 1,019 people said they took probiotic supplements to ease their stomach problems and 1,121 people said they consumed yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus, a common probiotic. A third of the supplement users said the probiotic helped a lot, compared with 17 percent and 20 percent of those who consumed the yogurt for their IBS or another digestive disorder, respectively. Among people who used probiotics for their general health, those who took pills were more likely than those who consumed yogurt to get probiotics on all or most days.

Respondents said that neither supplements nor yogurt worked as well as prescription drugs.  More...