The Profusion of Probiotics

Go to your refrigerator and take a peak inside. How many products do you see there with "Probiotic" or "Prebiotics" stamped on the packaging? The probiotic craze started with yogurt and then quickly spread to include almost every kind of dairy product, juices, and some kinds of snack foods. Perhaps you've heard something about probiotics like "good for digestion" or "improves immunity", but what do you really know about this added ingredient? Let's take a closer look at exactly what probiotics are and what they do.

Probiotics- are live, viable microorganisms (typically belonging to the Genus Lactobacillus) that are added to foods in an attempt to establish colonies of these organisms in your intestines. The purpose of these colonies are to improve your health by increasing digestion and absorption of nutrients as well as improving immunity by "crowding out" bad microorganism and preventing them from establishing harmful colonies that might cause illness [1].

Prebiotics- are carbohydrates that cannot be digested by humans but can be digested by the microorganisms in our intestines. These carbohydrates act as food for the microorganisms and promote their colonization and growth [2].

Symbiotics- refers to a mixture of probiotics and prebiotics or, in other words, the addition of the microorganisms along with some food to help get them started [2].

So we know what all these biotics are and are suppose to do; the question now is do they actually do what is claimed? There is some evidence that indicates probiotics do improve the function of the intestinal tract when it comes to decreasing diarrhea. The evidence in the areas of cancer prevention and increased immunity, however, is more equivocal (that means wishy-washy or not strong in either direction) and many organizations, including the American Dietetic Association, feel that more research is needed before the routine use of probiotics and prebiotics can be recommend for everyone [1,3,4].

If you are interested in starting a probiotics regime, please speak with your doctor first in order to rule out any personal health issues that may be impacted. In order to see the benefits of a probiotic regimen the Mayo Clinic suggests that "a daily dose of about 10 billion colony-forming units is needed" [4].


Resources:

1- DeVerse M., Schrezenmier J. Probiotics, prebiotics, and symbiotics. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol. 2008;111:1-66.
2- Zeratsky S. Are probiotics and prebiotics important for health? The Mayo Clinic, Retrieved on Oct. 20, 2011 from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/probiotics/AN00389.
3- American Dietetic Association. Probiotics and digestion. The American Dietetic Association Hot Topics. April 2009.
4- Probiotics: Bacteria That Offer Health Benefits. The Mayo Clinic, Retrieved on Oct. 20, 2011 from http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2009-mchi/5340.html.

Photo Credit:  Binnorie Artwork via Flickr Creative Commons