Beneficial Properties of Probiotics

Beneficial Properties of Probiotics

Kate

Probiotics are live microorganisms which upon ingestion in sufficient concentrations can exert health benefits to the host.

This definition of probiotics was derived in 2001 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and has been the term of reference for science and regulation thereafter.

Demand for food containing probiotics are expanding globally due to the continuous generation of research evidence indicating their potential health benefits to consumers.

Hundreds of different bacteria species are the natural and predominant constituents of intestinal microbiota.

Among the numerous intestinal microbes, those anticipated to exhibit potential health benefits to the host through modulation of the intestinal microbiota are commonly selected as probiotics. Species belonging to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have been reported to be the beneficial probiotic bacterial strains. The representative species include L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. plantarum, B. lactis, B. longum, and B. bifidum.

Some of the major health benefits attributed to probiotics include:

  • improvement of gastrointestinal microflora
  • enhancement of immune system
  • reduction of serum cholesterol
  • cancer prevention
  • treatment of irritable bowel-associated diarrheas
  • antihypertensive effects
  • improvement of lactose metabolism

This article reviews past studies involving the use of probiotics in:

  • strengthening the immune system
  • prevention of bowel diseases
  • modulation of hypocholesterolemic effect
  • enhancing dermal health
  • promoting oral health

Additionally, potential uses of probiotics for the management of anxiety and depression as well as boosting dermal and oral health are also discussed. […]

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How to Choose the Right Probiotic for Your Imbalance

Kate

It is really no surprise that we are seeing more and more research linking beneficial microbes to health benefits outside the digestive system. Most of this research tracks the many health benefits delivered by different strains of probiotic supplementation.

The most fascinating and user-friendly findings from this research indicate that we can support specific systems of the body through particular strains of probiotics.

For example, according to one study, if you were having mood issues, you could increase your dose of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum to boost mood and help the nervous system respond to stress.

In this article, I’ll share with you a list of some of the most researched strains of probiotics and their associated benefits so that you know what to look for when you are on the market for some quality beneficial bacteria. I’ll also guide you through my step-by-step approach to successfully repopulating your healthiest gut microbiome.[…]

 

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Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics- a review

Kate

The health benefits imparted by probiotics and prebiotics as well as synbiotics have been the subject of extensive research in the past few decades. These food supplements termed as functional foods have been demonstrated to alter, modify and reinstate the pre-existing intestinal flora. They also facilitate smooth functions of the intestinal environment. Most commonly used probiotic strains are: Bifidobacterium, Lactobacilli, S. boulardii, B. coagulans.

Prebiotics like FOS, GOS, XOS, Inulin; fructans are the most commonly used fibers which when used together with probiotics are termed synbiotics and are able to improve the viability of the probiotics.

Present review focuses on composition and roles of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Synbiotics in human health.

Furthermore, additional health benefits like immune-modulation, cancer prevention, inflammatory bowel disease are also discussed. […]

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Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Choosing A Good Probiotic

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Choosing A Good Probiotic

Kate

by Vincent Pedre, M.D.
Founder:  Pedre Integrative Health
NYC’s Leading Gut Health Expert

Many patients arrive in my office with gut imbalances that manifest in all sorts of ways, including weight gain, chronic inflammatory diseases, fatigue, and skin conditions like eczema. These gut imbalances result from numerous culprits. Chief among them are chronic stress, a high-sugar processed-foods diet, other dietary extremes, certain diseases, and specific gut insults, including unfavorable bacterial infections, parasites, and yeast.

Those problems aren’t as far-reaching as they might seem when you consider how much of your health begins in your gut. An out-of-whack gut can result in allergies, autoimmunity, weight gain, acne, skin rashes, yeast infections, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, depression and even accentuate the way you sense pain.

One way I help restore a patient’s gut to balance is with “probiotics.” The term, derived from Latin, means “for life.”

Among their numerous health benefits, research shows these friendly microorganisms help prevent bowel diseases, improve your immune system, reduce traveler’s diarrhea, help you maintain a healthy weight, heal various skin conditions, improve bloating and other uncomfortable GI symptoms, and even boost your mood, helping to reduce the effects of anxiety and depression. […]

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Human Microbiome Project Highlights

Kate

Getting Personal with Bacteria

Microbes, including bacteria, inhabit your body in great numbers and impact many aspects of health and disease such as obesity and Crohn’s disease. Characterizing the genetic diversity of microbes that live in specific areas of the body is key to understanding the composition and dynamics of microbial communities within individuals, in transmission between individuals, and in transmission between individuals and the environment. The ability to characterize microbial diversity and transmission has been hampered in the past by a lack of high-throughput analysis tools. New computational tools being developed through the Common Fund’s Human Microbiome Project (HMP) are accelerating microbiology and biomedical research, and unexpectedly, other fields like forensics.

Dr. Rob Knight, an investigator in the HMP, is developing novel approaches to analyze human microbial communities, and recently contributed to a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on the discovery of “microbial fingerprints”; in a person’s skin. The skin surface harbors a large number of bacteria that are highly diverse and yet personally unique from individual to individual. The bacteria are easily dislodged from the skin and transferred to objects upon contacting. By analyzing the “microbial fingerprint”; of bacteria left on computer equipment, Dr. Knight and colleagues at the University of Colorado found that the fingerprint could be traced to a specific individual with a high degree of certainty even if the objects had not been touched for two weeks. The approach could be important in forensic investigations to provide independent confirmation of forensic results obtained using more traditional methods such as human DNA analysis or fingerprinting. […]

Go to Common Fund at National Institute of Health

 

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