It’s Complementary Archives

Fall 2006 – Probiotics: Friendly Bacteria

Since the mid-1990s Americans have tripled their spending on probiotic supplements. In fact, probiotics is being researched more aggressively today than ever before as a complementary technique relative to a variety of illnesses. According to The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), scientific understanding or probiotics and their potential for preventing and treating health conditions is at an early stage but moving ahead.

What are probiotics?
Probiotics, referred to as friendly or good bacteria, has been defined by the United National Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization, as “live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” Common foods containing probiotics are yogurt, fermented and unfermented milk, miso, tempeh and some juices and soy beverages. In those foods and in probiotic supplements, the bacteria may have been present originally or added during preparation. Most often they come from two groups of bacteria, Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium. Within each group are different species and within each species, different varieties.

Friendly bacterial are vital to proper development of the immune system, to protect against agents that could cause disease and to the digestion and absorption of food and nutrients. Interaction between a person and the microorganisms in his or her body and between the microorganism themselves can be crucial to a person’s health and well-being.

This bacterial balancing act can be thrown off in two major ways:

•By antibiotics when they kill friendly bacteria in the gut along with the unfriendly bacteria and;

•By “unfriendly” microorganisms such as disease-causing bacteria, yeasts, fungi and parasites.

Encouraging Results
According to a report issued following a conference in 2005 that was co-funded by NCCAM and the American Society for Microbiology, the following areas have noted encouraging evidence from study of specific probiotic use:

•To reduce recurrence of bladder cancer www.blcwebcafe.org (referring to trials conducted in Japan);

•To treat diarrhea;

•To prevent and treat urinary or reproductive system infections;

•To treat irritable bowel syndrome;

•To shorten the length of an intestinal infection that is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium difficile and;

•To prevent and manage atopic dermatitis in children.

In terms of treating cancer, it has been hypothesized that probiotic cultures might decrease the exposure to chemical carcinogens by (a) detoxifying ingested carcinogens; (b) altering the environment of the intestine and thereby decreasing populations or metabolic activities of bacteria that may generate carcinogenic compounds; (c) producing metabolic products which improve a cell’s ability to die when it should; (d) producing compounds that inhibit the growth of tumor cells; or (e) stimulating the immune system to better defend against cancer cell proliferation.

According to NCCAM, at this time there is limited evidence supporting some uses of probiotics. Better scientific understanding of these tiny forms of life and their effects on people are needed.However, as with all complementary and alternative medicine methods, if you are thinking about using probiotic products as part of your health care regime, consult your health care provider first.