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Good bacteria drinks

AgeGap

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Any ideas if or how they work. Their are lots of drinks in my local supermarket with 'good bacteria' in them. How do these bacteria get past the acid in my stomach. I can only think of a Saving Private Ryan scenario where the few survivors who make it through the opening stage get to go on and do their work. The're not meant to be taken any other route than oral are they?
 
Your theory is mostly right:D . Usually the chosen bacteria have special resistence to the stomach environment also, which insures that some of them make it through. Lactic bacteria enter in this category.

As to what they actually do, there are real, proven benefits, but also a significant amount of woo science on that.

Good bacteria naturally inhabit the bowels. They help with digestion and some will produce vitamin K, necessary for efficient coagulation, for you. The other purpose is to inhabit, occupy, your bowels so that pathogenic bacteria (those that give you diarrhea) stay away.

So for example there are benefits in taking those bacteria if you are taking antibiotics, since some antibiotics tend to kill bowel bacteria, making you vulnerable to diarrhea-causing ones. However, yogurt rarely contains enough for that purpose; concentrated pill-form supplements are more efficient (those need to be kept in a cool place and wont keep good for long). Another thing is that the intestinal flora, the bowel bacteria, contains much more variety of bacterial strains than what is proposed in supplements. So they can help, but they are no panacea.

Some claim that they help the immune system, which is a very broad statement, probably based on studies linking the intestinal flora of infants with auto-immune diseases. Personnally I would be cautious about these claims.

the Kemist
 
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The most noticeable effect of probiotics is the lightening your wallet effect, me thinks.
 
At the very least, they provide a smidgin of protein in your diet.
 
krazyKemist said:
Your theory is mostly right:D . Usually the chosen bacteria have special resistence to the stomach environment also, which insures that some of them make it through. Lactic bacteria enter in this category.

As to what they actually do, there are real, proven benefits, but also a significant amount of woo science on that.

Good bacteria naturally inhabit the bowels. They help with digestion and some will produce vitamin K, necessary for efficient coagulation, for you. The other purpose is to inhabit, occupy, your bowels so that pathogenic bacteria (those that give you diarrhea) stay away.

So for example there are benefits in taking those bacteria if you are taking antibiotics, since some antibiotics tend to kill bowel bacteria, making you vulnerable to diarrhea-causing ones. However, yogurt rarely contains enough for that purpose; concentrated pill-form supplements are more efficient (those need to be kept in a cool place and wont keep good for long). Another thing is that the intestinal flora, the bowel bacteria, contains much more variety of bacterial strains than what is proposed in supplements. So they can help, but they are no panacea.

Some claim that they help the immune system, which is a very broad statement, probably based on studies linking the intestinal flora of infants with auto-immune diseases. Personnally I would be cautious about these claims.

the Kemist
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Good information.

As such, can we link constipation or unclear motions to excess of beneficial bacterias and diarrhea and much clear motions to lesser and harmful bacterias?

As such, can these bacterias effect digestion and absorptions of nutrients, impacting of body and immune system?
 
rustytunes said:
The most noticeable effect of probiotics is the lightening your wallet effect, me thinks.
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Well, for humans maybe. I've heard some people recommend yogurt which is not *too* expensive..... :)

People don't really need this in the normal course of things. The bacteria live in the stomach because, well, they are *designed* to live in the stomach - or more properly, the rumen.

Ruminants depend on beneficial microorganisms living in the rumen for their very life, and while Lactobacillus might help people occasionally, it's not vital to them. For those interested in what is in this stuff, here is the label from Probios for cattle (this is a gel or pill that is put down the throat of a sick ruminant, to keep the rumen alive and functioning):

Label Guarantee
Lactic Acid Bateria*, not less than 10 Million CFU**/g
*Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum
**Colony Forming Units

Ingredients:
Vegetable Oil, Corn Starch, Sucrose, Silicon Dioxide, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Certified Color, and Ethoxyquin, as a Preservative.
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Now, if we had a rumen...... but we don't. So although some of this can help out with digestion on the rare occasion (ask your doctor), unless you have a rumen (like a cow, goat, sheep, deer etc.) probiotics are not really that important of a supplement to your health. I don't think it would hurt but for the most part we get the beneficial microorganisms we need in our daily diet.

If you raised goats (like I do) then you would need to keep it on hand at all times "just in case" but I certainly don't swallow any of it myself! :D
 
Well, having the right commensal flora is important for monogastrics too. And in fact if there is a problem, oral probiotic administration seems to be beneficial if you give enough so that the small percentage that get past the stomach make a difference. I've seen a couple of published papers about this, and anecdotally I've seen it "work" in cats and dogs.

However, if you don't have any sort of gut problem or symptoms, taking probiotics is a waste of time and money.

If the stomach was 100% effective at killing all bacteria, we'd never get bacterial food poisoning. Salmonella, Campylobacter, VTEC and the rest, all harmless? Sadly, not.

Rolfe.
 
I have not seen good studies showing usefulness of oral bacterial agents. For me the problem is that they don't differentiate between the living and non living components of the product. To satisfy me they would give the product and the control would be a sterile version of the product (same ingredients but dead bacteria.) The studies were done before the concept of a prebioticWP was well known.
 
You may want to look at probiotic treatment in clostridium difficile colitis. We use it frequently in my facility, as the "1st line" treatments (vancomycin and Flagyl) can still exacerbate the actual diarrhea. Clinically, I've seen it work, and not work, depending on the individual patient, and whether or not the bacteria are colonized.
 
chiyo said:
You may want to look at probiotic treatment in clostridium difficile colitis. We use it frequently in my facility, as the "1st line" treatments (vancomycin and Flagyl) can still exacerbate the actual diarrhea. Clinically, I've seen it work, and not work, depending on the individual patient, and whether or not the bacteria are colonized.
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Hi chiyo, what kind of a facility is that you work in? What probiotic do you use?
 
Strictly anecdotal, but I've found that eating good unpasteurized yoghurt (with live acidophilus cultures) seems to help avoid the diarrhea and oral yeast infection I typically get from the strong antibiotics I occasionally take for a chronic recurring sinus infection.
 
luchog said:
Strictly anecdotal, but I've found that eating good unpasteurized yoghurt (with live acidophilus cultures) seems to help avoid the diarrhea and oral yeast infection I typically get from the strong antibiotics I occasionally take for a chronic recurring sinus infection.
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It is likely that pasteurized yogurt works just as well. I have heard how yogurt helped all these pets diarrhea only most people were unknowingly using pasteurized yogurt. It may be that yogurt is a prebiotic. Eating yogurt favors the growth of certain types of bacteria (no need for introduced species of bacteria). Then again it may be all anecdotes.
 
Dogdoctor said:
Hi chiyo, what kind of a facility is that you work in? What probiotic do you use?
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I am the nurse administrator of a short-term rehab. For the most part, we use Lactinex, with some Florestor thrown in for good measure. Sometimes generic acidophilus as well. Works wonders on antibiotic acquired diarrhea, and as an adjunct in the treatment of VRE and C. Difficile colitis.
 
Looking around at studies of various products I don't find any studies that rule out the possibility that the products as a prebiotic. In other words the same product with all the bacteria killed used as a control. Or perhaps there are studies showing that the bacteria ingested (labeled to differentiate them from wild strains) are found in increased numbers in the digestive tract following ingestion? I haven't found any. Any of you googlers find anything like that?
 
Vancomycin resistant enterococcus. BADDDDD bug--extremely virulent, especially in the elderly. Isolation is necessary.
 
Kumar said:
Good information.

As such, can we link constipation or unclear motions to excess of beneficial bacterias and diarrhea and much clear motions to lesser and harmful bacterias?

As such, can these bacterias effect digestion and absorptions of nutrients, impacting of body and immune system?
Click to expand...

It seems to help some people for bowel problems, mostly those exposed to high dose antibiotics. As an anecdote, it certainly helped me while on treatment for an infected cyst.

But the treatment is not standardized, and many different strains, and strain mixes, have been used with more or less success.

Sure the intestinal flora plays a role in health, but these roles are not clear yet.

As for chronic constipation/diarrhea problems without apparent cause (ie taking a new medication, change in diet), they should be investigated medically before attempting any self-medication. They may be a sign of more serious problems.

the Kemist
 
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