CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2007
"Friendly" Bacteria May Boost Health
Probiotics Pique The Interest Of Scientists And Food Marketers
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Packages of Dannon's Activa yogurt, one of many new products that contain probiotics, or "friendly bacteria" — part of a growing trend in foods designed to boost health. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
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Other 2007 products include: Kraft Foods Inc.'s LiveActive prebiotic cottage cheese and probiotic cheddar cheese; Nestle's probiotic Good Start Natural Cultures baby formula; Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp.'s Good Evening prebiotic baby food; and the Swiss firm Barry Callebaut's probiotic chocolate.
University of Michigan researcher Gary Huffnagle calls probiotics "a new essential food group" in his new book, "The Probiotics Revolution."
The concept, however, is not new.
Yogurt, made from milk fermented by bacteria, dates back centuries and has been said to have cured a 16th century French king's intestinal illness and to explain longevity in rural Bulgaria.
But there's an emerging shift in how scientists view probiotic bacteria and their role in health.
Millions of good bacteria live in the intestinal tract, helping keep bad, illness-causing bacteria at bay. Scientists increasingly believe that illness arises when that balance gets out of whack and bad bugs start to take over.
This overgrowth has been implicated in many common digestive problems including inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, said Dr. Sri Komanduri, a gastrointestinal specialist at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.
This line of thinking "has prompted not only the medical industry and obviously the food industry to try to create things to shift the balance back toward that good bacteria," he said.
Komanduri prescribes medical-strength probiotic pills containing 450 billion live lactic acid bacteria for inflammatory bowel disease and bacterial overgrowth in the gut.
But he doesn't recommend them for patients without specific complaints, and doesn't recommend probiotic foods because he said there's no evidence that they are as effective.
Patients who use them and report benefits are likely experiencing a placebo effect, Komanduri said.
Commercial products containing probiotics fall under Food and Drug Administration regulations. They are not supposed to make drug-like claims about curing or treating specific illnesses, said FDA spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings.
"As long as they don't cross the line," they can come pretty close, she said.
Huffnagle advised consumers to be wary of probiotic-containing products that don't specify how much or what type of bacteria.
"If a company says something is probiotic, the question is, how much, and what kind," he said.
Evidence suggests the bugs need to be alive and ingested in huge amounts, generally between 5 billion and 10 billion daily, he said.
While some products claim to have more, he said it's uncertain whether more is better.
For more information: National Institutes of Health: Probiotics
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- If a news company as large as CBS is going try to sound educated in reporting an article like this, the one thing they should get straight is yogurt, such as that in stories opening picture, has active cultures of yeast (mold), not bacteria. Blue cheese is a bacteria growing on a mold.
Good bacteria grows in dirt, ask any gardener. Eat more dirt. - Reply to this comment
- Your response looks like more disinformation to confuse the general public to what is really going on. It is sad.
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- seandgreen you must know that Pharmaceuticals Companies have deals with physicians to write prescriptions for their particular drug. A Doctor can easily received $100,000 or more a year for their prescribing habits. The doctors do what is best for their bank account not your health. This is a sad way to do business and it is what health care has become in our country. The statin drugs are the classic example, they are so profitable and it is the first order of business to put all patients on cholesterol medicine. Cholesterol is the biggest scam in the medical world. Estrogen is another drug that they are looking for excuses to put all women on. The fact that hormone replacement therapy gives women breast and other forms of cancer doesn''t seem to matter to the prescribing physician. The profits from chemotherapy are enormous and plenty of money to pass around. The medical money wheel is endless.
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- How is this news? The benefits of friendly bacteria and fermented foods have been known for decades or longer
Posted by andor3
Yes, basic nutrition is obvious to some but others have no clue. It doesn''t hurt to publish some reminders occasionally since it seems some people have no idea what to put in their bodies. - Reply to this comment
- The problem with the probiotic stuff is that it tends to cost way more than the regular variety and the actual effects are unclear.
- Reply to this comment
- How is this news? The benefits of friendly bacteria and fermented foods have been known for decades or longer--wine, beer, bread, yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, real pickles, sourdough, vinegar, cheese...
It is good science is catching up, but it is wrong to pretend they discovered any of this age-old knowledge. - Reply to this comment
- Now this is a subject this almost totality ignored by mainstream medicine. It cause so many other symptoms that they can prescribe for profit, it makes financial sense that this be ignored. Anyone from the nutrition world knows that all problems begin with the digestive system. The standard American diet and the way health care is today, it is such a joke. It is all about the money.
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