I have just started to research the subject because wifey said it is good for me. Honestly, I haven't even heard the word until now. "Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"." If you have an opinion or even better, a personal experience, chime in.... http://www.slate.com/id/2299545/ Oh yeah, I forgot: "To date, the European Food Safety Authority has rejected most claims that are made about probiotic products as being unproven."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy If you have clostridium difficile, this may help. Yep. A crap transplant. Probiotics may help digestion...maybe...but you probably also ought to eat some inulin as well, which is sold as benefiber-brand fiber supplement...it promotes a good bacterial balance. I seem to remember beans do this too. Yes, the bowel fermentation that causes the farts is actually good for you.
It's my understanding that they are real and may be able to help, but that we don't know enough about them for anything on the market now to be anything more then utter BS or pure luck if it works.
I think you are into something. The variety and diversity of probiotics are so large, that it is hard to generalize about them. It is possible that some of them are good for certain conditions, but yogurt makers making general statements for helping their sales is not helping the cause...
A good natural yogurt, Greek or Balkan style without all that extra 'stuff' added has been demonstrated to be beneficial to persons and dogs when on a course of antibiotics. Sucking down yogurt full of sugar, cornstarch, pectin, gelatin and a long list of other flavor and color enhancers remains of questionable value. My experience with dogs is related to endurance racing (Yukon Quest). If a dog incurred an abrasion on the pad, it is an entry point for bacteria (yes, even in cold weather) and the dogs routinely wear foot protection where the footing is rugged. As long as a cut or abrasion was minor and the dog not displaying discomfort or limping, Amoxicillin was given as a proactive measure and the dog could continue racing at the discretion of the Race Vet. As these drugs can have the side effect of killing the good bacteria in the gut and hence upsetting the dog's appetite and digestion, some plain yogurt added to the ration seemed to keep the dog so affected in good form and appetite. Field tested, though not studied in a laboratory setting. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The claims are utter rubbish and as Believe says, it's just luck if it does work. We humans are smart (dumb) enough to interfere with our gut bacteria by drinking alcohol, ingesting strong spices and medicines especially antibiotics (anti-bacterials) but we don't have even a starting point for being able to restore correct gut bacteria. Our bodies, on the other hand, know just what to do and will sort things out if left alone long enough. The body is master of its domain. Bacteria and the body live in symbiosis without which we would have died off as a species before we got started. The balance of bacteria is perfectly controlled by the healthy body. But when the body is weakened (by overwork, stress, insufficient pure air, pure water, sunshine, sleep, rest, relaxation or exercise, or by eating too much food or too much food other than in its natural raw state,) bacteria can get out of control. However, this problem is not fixed by adding more bacteria (even if we knew what kind we were getting or needed) but by removing the cause(s) of the weakness. None of this is made up. It is our physiology and can be found in any of the standard texts. The problem is that the information is misinterpreted using our allopathic viewpoints which sees the body as a hapless victim in the war against bacteria and "viruses." With a slight shift of focus, you will find that bacteria and "viruses" are no problem at all to a healthy body.
I've got two regular doctors - an MD and a vascular surgeon - and they both agree that probiotics are useful but ONLY!! if you need them. One of the times that they are actually beneficial is immediately following a powerful antibiotic regimen - such as you might have done following surgery or some serious infection that had to be treated. Otherwise, they said, it's nothing but the latest in food fads. If you're a healthy individual with no digestive problems, it's nothing but a waste of money - and that covers about 90% or more of the population in Western cultures.
Antibiotics kill off both the bad bacteria and the good in your gut, indisciminantly. Probiotics can help kick-start the body to get back to its normal balance. I can't really see much point in taking pro-biotics unless you're on or have recently been on antibiotics. The only other reason you might take them is if you have some other medical condition that creates an imbalance in the normal bacteria in your digestive tract.
I've seen it suggested that this may be what a use for our appendix. I've seen it suggested that the Appendix provides a viable resevoir for gut flora, to expediate repopulating the bowels. If they're beneficial in restoring correct floral balance, they may assist with problems caused by poor diet, or other medications (High fat diets, or excessive alcohol consumption can also ravage intestinal flora, likewise being on the pill can).
The gut would typically have thousands or millions of different bacteria living in it. How many would a probiotic replace? How many new ones would it add that don't belong there? And finally, how would a probiotic know how much of each to add to restore the "balance"? It's just marketing hype which doesn't pass the logic test so no wonder there's no laboratory proof.
I'm not sure, but I'd guess millions at least. None, I'd hope. The point is to replace what is supposed to be there, not to add new ones. It wouldn't. If there are two many of a particular strain, they will die off one way or another. If conditions are good and there aren't enough, they will multiply. The aim is to kick-start the system. Are you sure there's no laboratory proof?
I understand the point but the idea that a small pot of bacteria can walk into your gut, take stock of the current environment and set to work fixing a lack of or imbalance of bacteria is pure science fiction. The first 3 points I agree with. The body will manage the various bacteria in the gut as well as everywhere else in the body. So adding the probiotic is a bit like making dough with yeast? In this case, you add a number of bacteria and this wakes the body up and inspires it to replace any missing bacteria. I was referring to the OPs quote "To date, the European Food Safety Authority has rejected most claims that are made about probiotic products as being unproven." They don't reference the source of this quote and it's not in the linked article although the article does cast a lot of doubt on the validity of the claims made by manufacturers. Judging by the results of my impromptu Google research, there's not much laboratory proof to mention and what is their is contradicted by this statement from the November 2005 conference that was cofunded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and convened by the American Society for Microbiology to explore this topic. (medicinenet.com/probiotics/page3.htm)
Probiotics may be beneficial to people who have been on high doses of antibiotics for a long period of time, which can kill off the symbiotic bacteria in our intestines that aid in our digestion. Inserting a "starter culture" may hasten the recovery of the bacteria population. Nonetheless, the probiotic bacteria customarily used is Lactobacillus acidophilus, the common yogurt culture. The bacteria that comprise our "gut flora" are from different clades, including the well known Escheria coli. Perhaps the yogurt bacteria are just there to help us "get by with a little help from our friends" until the symbiotic bacteria population recovers on its own? After all, you can't eat E. coli! L. acidophilus is routinely prescribed for dogs who eat stool. While in some cases this is just instinctive behavior (canids are the only carnivorans who eat the entire carcass of their kill or the leftovers from other kills, including the intestines and their contents) that's harmless and almost impossible to suppress, in some dogs it's a sign that their commercial food is so loaded down with preservatives and antibiotics that it's killing off their own gut flora so they need a booster shot. Several species of animals have intestines that are a little too short to break down food without assistance. Besides dogs, rabbits also eat stool to maintain their intestinal culture.
I've taken them for periods and have been unable to tell if they serve a useful function. It is not something that is easy to tell. In theory, they seem invaluable, but there is no way to tell clinically. Also, there is such an immense variety of them there is little basis for choosing which to take. Some are enteric coated. Others have bacteria that survive at a different stomach ph in order to bridge the stomach acid barrier. Others have neither. Perhaps one needs to consider whether you are taking omeprazole to reduce stomach acidity. One has to consider whether the judgement of the drug administration is based on clinical trials and is a reliable reason for not taking probiotics or because there is no big money in it for the big drug companies to probe the FDA to approve it. I am inclined to bet on the former . . . brough http://civilization-overview.com I hate nit-pickers!
I made a thread years ago and I didnLt get a good ansswer. My question is: how is a lactobacilli supposed to survive thhe stomach's pH and end up in your intestines? Or am I supposed to put the yogurt up my ass?
Although it IS a harsh passage (stomach acid is around pH 2.0) a fair number still make it through. Bear in mind that we aren't born with the GI tract already populated. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The fauna and flora get there with what we eat. And that's also the way the "bad" ones get there too - things like the dangerous varieties of E. coli.
