Probiotic News

A PERTH study has found that yoghurt may be beneficial in preventing carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Those with a high to moderate yoghurt consumption of 100grams per day or above had significantly lower CCA-IMT than those with yoghurt consumption of 100grams per day or less. Image: flickr Eliza Adam

Researchers at Sir Charles Gardener Hospital found that moderate daily consumption of yoghurt prevents thickening of the carotid artery while the same consumption of milk and cheese had little effect in reducing CCA-IMT.  More...

Probiotic pills ease irritable bowel syndrome and other stomach problems more effectively than yogurt with probiotics, a recent survey of Consumer Reports subscribers suggests. Probiotics are helpful bacteria that naturally occur in the intestines. Other recent research concluded that probiotics, in yogurt or pills, might also help prevent colds.

In the Consumer Reports survey, 1,019 people said they took probiotic supplements to ease their stomach problems and 1,121 people said they consumed yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus, a common probiotic. A third of the supplement users said the probiotic helped a lot, compared with 17 percent and 20 percent of those who consumed the yogurt for their IBS or another digestive disorder, respectively. Among people who used probiotics for their general health, those who took pills were more likely than those who consumed yogurt to get probiotics on all or most days.

Respondents said that neither supplements nor yogurt worked as well as prescription drugs.  More...

Probiotic bacteria may lessen anxiety and depression-related disorders, according to the latest research, writes SUZANNE CAMPBELL

WHAT WE EAT can promote feelings of wellness and pleasure, and according to recent research conducted at University College Cork, foods containing probiotic bacteria may have potential in treating anxiety and depression- related disorders.

The research, which was carried out by Dr Javier Bravo, Prof John Cryan and their colleagues at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre in UCC, found that probiotic bacteria can influence neurotransmitters and potentially ease feelings of anxiety or depression.  More...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of probiotics on the prevention of problems with bowel movements malnutrition and infection.

DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

SETTING: Peripheral Geriatric Hospital.  More...

(Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who regularly have milk or yogurt with "good" bacteria may be less likely to suffer the late-pregnancy complication known as pre-eclampsia, a new study finds.

Pre-eclampsia occurs when a woman has a sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy. Other signs include protein in the urine and swelling in the face and hands.

The disorder, which affects about five percent of all pregnant women, can be dangerous if unrecognized: it may progress to the rare condition eclampsia, which can cause the mother to have seizures or fall into a coma.  More...

MedWire News: Consuming probiotics can have a significant cholesterol-lowering effect in individuals with high, borderline high, and normal cholesterol levels, shows a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

As reported in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases, the mean net reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides associated with consumption of probiotics were 6.40, 4.90, 0.11, and 3.95 mg/dl (0.17, 0.13, 0.00, and 0.04 mmol/l), respectively.

Probiotics are “living micro-organisms,” explain the Chinese researchers, which, upon ingestion in certain numbers, can exert health effects “beyond inherent basic nutrition.”  More...

A recent study suggests that the good bacteria that is found in yogurt, which has displayed a great many benefits already, may even lower rates of depression!

In this particular study, mice that were fed lactobacillus (one type of “good bacteria”) for 28 days displayed a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression when compared to mice that were not fed lactobacillus.

These positive results are attributed to chemical changes in the brains of the mice as a result of the lactobacillus consumption.  More...

Probiotic pills ease irritable bowel syndrome and other stomach problems more effectively than yogurt with probiotics, a recent survey of Consumer Reports subscribers suggests. Probiotics are helpful bacteria that naturally occur in the intestines. Other recent research concluded that probiotics, in yogurt or pills, might also help prevent colds.

In the Consumer Reports survey, 1,019 people said they took probiotic supplements to ease their stomach problems and 1,121 people said they consumed yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus, a common probiotic. A third of the supplement users said the probiotic helped a lot, compared with 17 percent and 20 percent of those who consumed the yogurt for their IBS or another digestive disorder, respectively. Among people who used probiotics for their general health, those who took pills were more likely than those who consumed yogurt to get probiotics on all or most days.

Respondents said that neither supplements nor yogurt worked as well as prescription drugs.  More...

SCIENTISTS IN Cork believe they have proved that consuming probiotic bacteria can alter brain chemistry involved in stress and anxiety.

“This is the first time it has been shown that probiotics in the gut can directly affect the brain,” said Prof John Cryan, professor of anatomy at University College Cork.

Prof Cryan is also a Science Foundation Ireland funded principal investigator at Cork’s Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre. Researchers there study probiotics, which Prof Cryan describes as bacteria that when eaten can deliver proven health benefits.  More...

Daily intake of probiotic “friendly” bacteria showed the ability to effect a considerable increase in immune function, reports a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Conducted in partnership between the University of Southampton in England and the University of Milan, and the Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan, Italy, study participants that ingested bifidobacterium animalis ssp. Lactis (BB-12) or Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. Paracasei (L. casei 431) showed raised levels—as high as 66 percent—of the immune system antibody IgG3.

Study participants who were given the probiotics over a two-week period were then inoculated with a standard flu vaccine. Tested again four weeks after receiving the vaccine, the probiotic group’s immune antibodies showed substantial increases while the placebo group’s results were considerably less impressive. The study findings corroborate previous studies that also found a connection between daily intake of probiotic strains and enhanced immune system function.  More...