Originally published September 12 2005
Probiotics may increase iron absorption
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study shows a strain of probiotic bacteria created by the Swedish firm Probi can double the absorption of iron from food in women, which could aid in fighting commonly-occurring iron deficiency in infants and pregnant women.
The findings suggest that probiotic products, which have become one of the best-selling health foods in recent years, may have yet another important benefit beyond their positive effect on gut health and the immune system.
Iron deficiency with anaemia is said to affect about a quarter of infants worldwide and twice as many have iron deficiency without anaemia.
Around 10 per cent of young women in developed countries are iron deficient, while almost 24 per cent of pregnant mothers in Europe and more than half the pregnant women in the Americas are anaemic, according to data from the WHO.
While there has been some discussion about the ability of probiotic bacteria to digest phytate, a common component of foods that binds with iron to prevent its absorption, there has been little work done in this area.
Per Bengtsson, chief executive of Probi, believes the randomized, double-blind, crossover study is the first to show that a probiotic bacteria can double iron absorption.
The firm conducted the trial on its Lp299v bacteria that is found in products like Skane's ProViva fruit drink.
For four days 24 healthy women aged 21-29 consumed drinks with or without the Lp299v bacteria.
The company presented the results to doctors and nutrition companies attending a congress organized by the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) in Brussels yesterday.
The researchers used four different test meals so they could exclude the impact of phytate as well as other factors that influence iron absorption like pH and lactic acid.
It is certainly likely to be easier than communicating benefits to gut health, or trying to prove the benefits to the immune system, the main avenues for probiotic applications to date.
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