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Probiotics
offers good bugs for eating
Dec. 13, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
How about some bugs in your dinner
tonight?
Many people love them, the bacterial kind, that is. They use
probiotics, an alternative medicine approach to supporting
health.
Probiotics are often referred to as “friendly bacteria,”
though a range of microorganisms can qualify, including yeasts.
The idea goes like this: Some people think that live microorganisms
in foods or supplements can boost the immune system and help
treat certain conditions by replacing or increasing the body’s
natural supply of friendly bacteria when supplies are low.
For example, colonies of beneficial bacteria live in your
intestines and help in the normal function of the gut. If
you take antibiotics to fight an infection, the drugs kill
both the problematic bacteria as well as the good guys. Eating
yogurt with live bacterial cultures such as Lactobacillus
bulgaricus or Streptococcus thermophilus, for example, may
help replenish the gut’s normal supply.
Other foods that contain probiotics include soy products such
as miso and tempeh, soy beverages such as kefir, fermented
milk such as buttermilk, and fermented vegetables such as
sauerkraut and kimchi. The beneficial bugs are available in
capsules, tablets and powdered forms, too, at natural foods
stores and pharmacies.
Probiotics have been used since ancient times, but attempts
to scientifically validate their usefulness are only beginning.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
a unit of the National Institutes of Health, and the American
society for Microbiology in 2005 sponsored a conference on
probiotics.
A report was produced summarizing the evidence for the health
benefits of probiotics. Among the benefits with the most scientific
support:
* Treatment of diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome. Diarrhea
caused by rotavirus was the condition for which there was
the greatest evidence of efficacy.
* Prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections, female
genital tract and reduction of the risk for recurrence of
bladder cancer.
* Shortening the amount of time it takes for the body to recover
from an intestinal infection caused by Clostridium difficile
bacteria, and prevention and treatment of infection that follows
surgery to remove the colon.
* Prevention and treatment of eczema in children.
More information about probiotics is available online from
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/.
More studies are needed before firm recommendations can be
made about probiotics. A strong placebo effect may be at play
where benefits from probiotics are concerned, according to
NCCAM. In other words, it’s possible that benefits are
all in your head.
Still, there doesn’t appear to be much risk from using
probiotics, though their use hasn’t been studied well,
especially in young people, older adults, and people with
depressed immune systems. For healthy adults, the primary
side effects are likely to be gas or bloating.
If you use probiotics and are being treated for a medical
condition, be sure to let your health care provider know what
you are eating or taking, especially if you are using supplemental
forms of probiotics such as capsules, tablets or powders.
On the other hand, foods such as sauerkraut, miso and tempeh
aren’t likely to pose much risk. If you eat yogurt or
drink kefir (a cultured yogurt drink), buy nonfat varieties
to limit your saturated fat intake. Miso and pickled vegetables
such as kimchi and sauerkraut are high in sodium, so if you
include them in your diet, balance your sodium intake by eating
more low sodium foods such as fresh vegetables and fruit.
And embrace the promise of probiotics, because not all bugs
are bad.
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