Currently viewing the category: "good bacteria"

Probiotics May Protect Against Allergies

By On · Add Comment · In allergies, antibodies, bacteria, digestion, good bacteria, IgG, immune system, kefir, Lactobacillus casei, probiotics, yogurt

Probiotics may be beneficial for more than just digestion, a new study shows. The good bacteria that make up probiotic drinks and supplements may actually change the immune system’s response to grass pollen–the cause of hay fever. And even better it may help balance antibodies reducing allergies in general.

Oh, blessed be the Lord, I say! If these findings are correct, then those of us who suffer from seasonal allergies (which in L.A. means year round) can breath a sigh a relief. One in five Americans suffers from some sort of allergy. That’s fifty million sniffling, snorkling, and stuffed-up people suffering on a daily basis. The allergy remedy industry is booming, as people try to find relief from this maddening malady.

Enter probiotics. Probiotics are supplements containing various strains of beneficial bacteria–bacteria that reside naturally in our gut; symbiotic squatters, if you will. Everyone has heard of acidophilus. The probiotic strain used in the study, however, was Lactobacillus casei. Volunteers were given a milk drink–some with the bacteria and some without–which they imbibed daily for five months. Researchers took blood samples before the grass pollen season, at its peak, and after the end of the season. They found that people who had been drinking the probiotic drink had lower levels of an antibody that help produce allergy symptoms. And the people receiving the probiotic drink had higher levels of the antibody IgG, which protects against allergy symptoms.

I’ve been taking probiotics regularly myself for a couple of weeks now and I feel amazing. I started my regimen for digestive purposes and they have definitely delivered. Can’t recommend probiotics enough. Our modern lifestyles leave us susceptible to diminished gut bacterial colonies and we need to replenish regularly. Probiotics are it. Yes, you can eat yogurt, and you can certainly drink kefir, but for my money I want the biggest bang, and that comes from supplementing with probiotics. This is the brand I like and carry in my office. Great company, great product. And now great news for allergy sufferers. You heard it here first: supplement with probiotics for optimal digestive, immune and respiratory health.

Probiotics Help Fight Respiratory Illness

By On · Add Comment · In antibiotics, Bifidobacterium, colitis, diarrhea, digestive, good bacteria, immune system, inflammation, Lactobacillus acidophilus, lactose intolerance, probiotics, respiratory illness, supplement

Everybody knows about harmful bacteria, like E. coli, Staph aureus, Neisseria gonorrhoea and others, and how they wreak havoc on our health. But not all bacteria are bad–good bacteria reside in our gut and other places, and not only keep harmful bacteria from settling in and colonizing, but can also ward-off illness.

According to a new study out of Australia, long-distance runners taking probiotics (a supplemental mixture of “good” bacterial colonies) showed a boost in immune system function and had less respiratory illness than runners taking a placebo. These results show one potential major benefit of supplementing with probiotics.

Probiotics are bacterial and yeast mixtures with such recognizable names as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium. Most people take them following a round of antibiotics to help replenish the numbers of helpful bacteria in the digestive system. The many benefits attributable to probiotics are:

Taking probiotics, then, is a great way to enhance the health, especially of the digestive system. But as you can see, supplementing with these essential microorganisms has even wider-reaching effects than that. I take them regularly myself, and find them a useful supplement to eating yogurt, another great source of Lactobacillus and Bifidus cultures. So don’t fear all bugs; some microbes are necessary for life–our life. Now that’s symbiosis!

Chocolate Gut

By On · Add Comment · In addiction, bacteria, chocolate, food cravings, food sensitivities, good bacteria
Would you feel better about your chocolate addiction if I told you that it might be related to the make up of your gut bacteria? Well this is the word from scientists who have found different bacterial colonies in the digestive systems of people who crave chocolate. And you thought it was a lack of discipline.

Researchers at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland (yes, the makers of Quick and Crunch) found that the men who ate chocolate regularly and the weirdos who didn’t (no, really, they were labelled “weird” in the study) had different metabolic byproducts show up in their blood and urine, and these were related to the different bacteria in their intestines. We all have a vast array of bacteria in our digestive systems–called “good” bacteria–some necessary for the digestive process itself and some to prevent the overgrowth of opportunistic organisms, like fungi and other “bad” bacteria (see my post on the appendix’s role in all of this).

What scientist conclude from this study is that our particular gut bacterial make up determines our food cravings. I find this study and its conclusions interesting because I am fully convinced that most everyone has foods that they are sensitive to. This is the principle in Ayurveda; and many other healing systems have been studying these links too. I, in fact, have been treated by a fabulous acupuncturist who gave me a decent guide to my particular food sensitivities by evaluating me and categorizing me into a “body type.” I have to say–he was pretty right on.

In any case, I think this is definitely an area worth studying. For the researchers of this recent work, they felt it might be a way to manipulate the digestive system’s bacterial make-up and help reduce obesity by decreasing food cravings. I don’t know about that, but if they can find a connection between bacterial composition and food sensitivities, I think it can help people stay away from those foods that bother them. Who knows, maybe the endemic proportions of heart burn (acid reflux), gas and bloating could be relieved by such information. We’ll see where they take this one.

Everything Has a Function

By On · Add Comment · In appendectomy, appendicitis, appendix, good bacteria, normal flora
Well, well, well. Tsk, tsk. Medical science has to eat yet another mistake–the idea that the appendix is just a rudimentary appendage. The conventional wisdom for years has been that the appendix was nothing more than a remnant of a bygone developmental stage. As a result, doctors have been quick to remove it; a routine surgery they call it–an appendectomy. But this news just in: Scientists now believe that the appendix produces and protects good germs for your gut.

I knew it, I knew it. There’s just no way, through millions of years of evolution, that we would continue to form a “useless” appendage. Evolution does not work that way. Anybody remember the so-called uselessness of the tonsils ? Mm hm, I lost mine back in 1972. They were also considered unnecessary–that is, until medical science realized their importance in immune function. Duh. Can I have my tonsils back please?
I also lost my useless appendix last year, one month following the birth of my daughter (I couldn’t let my wife get all the attention, now could I?). I never felt real easy about the situation. I mean, it is attached to my colon; it must do something. But we didn’t know what. Now we do. It provides the normal flora of our gastrointestinal tract–the same stuff that helps prevent the overgrowth of opportunistic organisms like fungi or other bacterial species. If the normal flora die or get purged–like through amoebic dysentery, cholera, or the overuse of antibiotics today–then the appendix simply reboots the system. Nice. Isn’t the human body amazing?
For me the take home lesson is this. Man is not smarter than Mother Nature (please read my article on Innate Intelligence). Just because we can’t figure something out does not mean it doesn’t exist; or in the case of the appendix–doesn’t have a function. Isn’t it wiser to assume that there is a function to every body part and that we should try to save them until we figure it out?
Well, medical science is making sure to cover their bases. The authors of the paper on the role of the appendix have made sure to point out that the function of producing good bacteria is “not needed in a modern industrialized society”. According to Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author, “If a person’s gut flora dies, they can usually repopulate it easily with germs they pick up from other people. But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn’t as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy.” Yeah, I’d say that too if I was teaching people the finer points of yanking organs.
In any case, there’s no doubt that an inflamed appendix (appendicitis) can be deadly. So I’m not too upset about losing mine. However, I still think that working to find an alternative solution to treating appendicitis should be studied. Until then, conventional wisdom will continue to see the appendix as extra baggage.
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