Tired And Sluggish? Go Pro!

Today it seems you can’t pick up a magazine or watch a television commercial without being inundated with advertisements touting the health benefits of probiotics. If you have digestive tract problems, you may have bought into the hype and started consuming yogurt with active cultures or taking an advertised probiotic supplement without consulting with your doctor or understanding just what you are ingesting into your body.

Just because a tall and beautiful movie star with a tummy ache tells you that eating her favorite brand of yogurt is the answer to all your problems doesn’t mean you should radically change your diet without understanding the medical science behind the slick ads, billboards, and flashy television commercials.

The latest marketing ploy to hit the food industry, probiotics are popping up in everything from chocolate bars, ice cream, cereal and salad dressings. Look around, probiotics have escaped the dairy case and are colonizing other areas of the marketplace; capitalizing on the bacteria which occur naturally in fermented foods and are thought to improve digestion and offer support to the immune system by rebalancing the intestinal eco-system.

Food processing and manufacturing are capitalizing on the craze – if it says probiotics on the label, sales go up. Probiotics now account for over $20 billion in global sales. That figure is up approximately 30 percent from just a year ago. Read the labels of the products you purchase, and you will notice that probiotics are now even included in baby formula and pet food. If probiotics haven’t found their way into your diet in some form, chances are they soon will.

Probiotics are a rapidly expanding growth market with annual global sales of products expected to skyrocket to $42 billion by 2016. Probiotics are found in over-the-counter preparations in the form of powders, liquids, tablets, capsules, lozenges, and gums that contain probiotics as well as food items such as yogurt, miso paste, kefir, pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha and other fermented products that contain "beneficial" or "friendly" bacteria. It’s all quite confusing as the organisms themselves are also called probiotics.

When New Isn’t New

Probiotics have only recently gained attention and popularity in the United States although they have been widely used in Asia and Europe for decades. As an example, Dannon’s Activia is a fairly recent introduction in U.S. markets. However, the brand has been sold extensively in other countries since 1987. After Dannon introduced Activia to the U.S. market, an extensive marketing blitz boosted sales to make Dannon one of the most recognized and one of the most popular yogurt brands in America. It is of interest to note that according to the National Agricultural Statistic Service, annual sales of yogurt in the United States have grown 113 percent by weight since 2001.

Americans have a tendency to want a “quick fix” and “pop a pill” or reach for a supplement. We are a culture that has a heavy reliance on pills and medications; both over-the-counter, prescription and illegal. Other cultures tend to turn to natural foods and remedies to address non-living threatening medical conditions.

The International Probiotics Associations reports that in Japan, consumers enjoy a broad spectrum of foods rich in probiotics while consumers in Europe favor fermented milks and yogurts. In America, “reaching for that quick fix” health-conscious individuals consume far more probiotic supplements than foods containing these beneficial bacteria. It is, of course, best to get your probiotics from natural foods as food provides additional nutritional benefits and fiber not found in supplements.

What Are Probiotics?

Probiotics are viable microscopic organisms like bacteria and yeasts, which naturally flourish within our bodies. Medical researchers describe probiotics as containing naturally occurring (commensal) yeasts and bacteria useful in normalizing and recolonizing the gastrointestinal tract when the normal balance of micro flora (bacteria) has become disturbed.

A diverse array products are available that contain a wide variety of species. Species may include but are not limited to:

• Acidophilus

• Bacillus

• Streptococcus (S. bulgaricus)

• Lactobacillus (L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. thermophilus, L. reuteri,)

• Enterococcus (E. faecium)

• Bifidobacterium (B. bifidus)

• Saccharomyces (S. boulardii)

When consumed in adequate amounts, probiotics provide both health and nutritional benefits. However, not just any beneficial bacteria qualify as a probiotic. A bacterium is not considered a probiotic until it is shown to survive the acidic environment in the stomach in order to reach the remainder of the digestive tract; it is in the intestines and colon that probiotics do their best work.

Did you know that probiotics are not the only microscopic viable organisms found in the digestive tract? Our intestinal tracts are home to a diverse range of flora including harmful viruses and bacteria; as many as 500 different kinds. One of the benefits of probiotics comes in their usefulness in balancing these “unfriendly” microbes that can cause unpleasant stomach distress including, gas, bloating, cramps, constipation, and diarrhea.

Due to their vital role in counteracting the effects of bad bacteria, probiotics play a crucial part is keeping us healthy. The “good” bacteria in our intestinal tract can get out of balance due to the use of prescription antibiotics or a diet lacking in probiotic-rich foods such as kefir and yogurt. Fortunately, an unbalance can quickly and easily be corrected by the addition of naturally occurring probiotics in the diet or supplements containing probiotics. Medical research studies show that to maintain a healthy digestive system; the body should maintain a ration of 85-to-15 of “good” bacteria versus “bad” bacteria.

Health Benefits Of Probiotics

Probiotics demonstrate a positive effect in countering the deleterious effect of a long course of antibiotics on gut microflora; providing relief helpful in the treatment of gastric ulceration and diarrhea due to infectious causes. Doctors feel probiotics may prove to be a benefit in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease by bolstering the immune system. Found to enhance the absorption and digestion of fats and proteins, probiotics may also help overcome lactose intolerance.

• When added to breast milk or infant formula, probiotics may encourage the growth the increased count of healthy bacteria in the gut of premature babies.

• Probiotics have demonstrated healing properties and hold promise for preventing dermatitis and atopic eczema in children.

• Probiotics enhance digestion and the absorption of phosphorus, calcium, fats and protein.

• Although results are not conclusive, probiotics may prove helpful in treating vaginal yeast infections.

• Added to gum, mouth rinses and lozenges, probiotics are believed to reduce periodontal disease, bad breath, and throat infections.

Probiotics And Weight Loss

The British Journal of Nutrition recently published a study reinforcing the health benefits of taking probiotics. Findings that probiotics may help females lose weight caught the attention of the dieting public. Previous research studies had already confirmed that intestinal flora differs dramatically between obese and thin individuals. Scientist suggest this may be attributed to diet.

Studies show that high fat, low fiber diets encourage the survival of certain types of bacteria as compared to others. The focus of the study was to try to determine if the consumption of probiotics could alter intestinal microbiota in a manner that would significantly affect weight loss and overall health and wellness.

The team of researchers under the direction of Angolo Tremblay, Professor University Laval in conjunction with the Canada Research Chair in Environmental and Energy Balance. The study involved 125 overweight individuals and had a balanced mix of women and men.

Following a 12-week weight loss program, followed by a 12-week maintenance program patients were evaluated. Half of the group consumed two pills daily containing probiotics from the Lactobacitlus rhamnosus family. The other half of the group unknowingly received two daily pills containing a non-active placebo.

After the 12-week weight-loss portion of the study, those who consumed the pills containing probiotics lost an average of 4.4kgs. Participants in the study who consumed placebo pills and followed the weight-loss diet lost an average of 2.6kgs.

One of the most surprising findings to come of the test was that it was the women who lost weight. Both the men who took the probiotics, as well as the men that took placebo, did not register a significant weight-loss. Professor Tremblay, the leader of the study, commented, “ We don’t know why the probiotics didn’t have any effect on men. It may be a question of dosage, or the study period may have been too short.” During the weight-maintenance portion of the program, the women who took probiotics continued to lose weight while those women who took the placebo pills managed to sustain their smaller weight-loss. Professor Tremblay noted, “Researchers also observed a reduction of the hormone leptin (an appetite-regulating hormone) in the probiotic consuming group, as well as a reduced overall concentration of the kind of intestinal bacteria more common in obese individuals.”

Concerns And Cautions

It is important to remember that while probiotics have been widely used in Europe and Asia for decades as a method of pursuing optimum good health, research studies are inconclusive and more research is required.

All probiotic products taken by mouth to supplement the diet are sold as food, not as a drug and therefore are not subject to the rigid scrutiny the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA does not endorse or approve probiotics.

Many live microorganisms have a history of use as probiotics and do not cause illness. However, it is important to remember that probiotic safety has not been adequately researched and more information is necessary before doctors can definitively state that probiotic supplementation is safe and beneficial for infants, young children, the elderly or those with a comprised immune system.

Medical researchers have expressed concern that probiotics might cause infections that then need to be treated with antibiotics, especially in persons with other underlying health problems or a weakened immune system. There are also medical concerns regarding probiotics causing unhealthy metabolic activities such as excessive stimulation of the immune system and possible gene transfer such as insertion of foreign genetic material into cells.

Side effects from probiotics, when they occur, are typically mild and affect the digestive tract often causing bloating, mild stomach cramps and gas.