Originally published August 19 2005
Probiotics can help with digestion
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Probiotics, a form of god bacteria, is being put into supplements, as it has been found to aid digestion problems.
Probiotics are ''good" bacteria and they've been consumed, in yogurt and other products, for hundreds of years in Europe and Asia to prevent and treat a variety of gastrointestinal ailments.
Their popularity in the United States is growing as dietary supplements designed to restore a healthful balance between good and bad bacteria in the gut.
Restoring this balance can be especially important while you're taking antibiotics, which kill off good as well as bad bacteria, leaving many people with intestinal cramps and diarrhea.
''Probiotics definitely help with acute diarrhea," said Dr. Sherwood Gorbach, an infectious disease specialist at Tufts University School of Medicine who, with colleague Barry Goldin, a biochemist, developed Culturelle, which contains the bacterium Lactobacillus GG.
Gorbach is up front about his financial ties to Culturelle.
''There is a conflict of interest here," he said.
Still, more than 250 studies have shown LGG effective for gastrointestinal and allergy problems.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health is now funding a study using an Italian product, VSL#3, for fatty liver disease at Johns Hopkins.
The lead investigator on that study, Dr. Steven Solga, a gastroenterologist, said he believes probiotics may also prove useful for allergies, asthma, eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, and other problems.
Goldin of Tufts suggests looking for strains containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, including L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. reuteri, L. casei, and B. longum.
But buyer beware: Probiotics are classified as dietary supplements, which are not approved before marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration, meaning you can't be sure what's really in them.
If you prefer to get probiotics from yogurt, make sure the label says ''live" or ''active" cultures.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml