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Bacillus
If the digesting of food is a job assignment,
then the microflora that lives in the human gut
is like a toolbox to achieve this task. When the
human body is weakened by digestive problems, it
is quite possible that your "toolbox" needs
encouragement via a probiotic supplement. The
genus bacillus, which is more specific than the
broad class known as bacilli, contains several
specific species of bacteria that can be useful
in breaking down digestive toxins. The natural
layer of mucus in the lower digestive system is
sometimes prone to weakness, which can create
digestive discomfort. Some species of bacillus
are helpful in maintaining the health of this
important mucus layer. Think of bacillus as a
friendly bacteria that acts as a guardian
against interlopers, and you will have a good
parallel in picturing your body's interactions;
these internal interactions help to preserve a
healthy intestinal system.
According to a study produced by Ilse J.
Broekaert and W. Allan Walker in Mar 2006,
several findings on the potency of the genus
bacillus were found. The majority of probiotics
naturally inhabit the human intestinal
microflora, or bacteria that normally occur in
the digestive system. Clinical research has
proven that probiotics offer preventive and
curative features. To quote this study directly,
"Positive, strain-specific effects of probiotics
have been shown in diarrheal diseases,
inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel
syndrome, and Helicobacter pylori-induced
gastritis, and in atopic diseases and in the
prevention of cancer." Although they suggest
that additional study is necessary on the
effectiveness of specific bacterial strains,
they cite many foods that already contain
beneficial bacillus probiotics, such as yogurt
and infant formula.
A 2006 article on probiotics and neonatal
intestinal infection by Hammerman and Kaplan
revealed that the use of bacillus probiotics was
simpler and less invasive than drugs in helping
to normalize the microflora in the gut. Because
bacillus helped to bolster natural host
defenses, it was considered a safer course of
treatment. As a food supplement, bacillus was
considered less aggressive, more natural, and
effective as a prophylactic or "disease
prevention" measure. These are powerful
statements that show how legitimate medical uses
of the probiotic bacillus have expanded in the
past decade.
In the June 2006 publication, "Journal of
Applied Microbiology," Parvez and Malik revealed
the following findings:
"Most probiotics fall into the group of
organisms known as lactic acid-producing
bacteria and are normally consumed in the form
of yogurt, fermented milks or other fermented
foods. Some of the beneficial effect of lactic
acid bacteria consumption include: (i) improving
intestinal tract health; (ii) enhancing the
immune system, synthesizing and enhancing the
bioavailability of nutrients; (iii) reducing
symptoms of lactose intolerance, decreasing the
prevalence of allergy in susceptible
individuals; and (iv) reducing risk of certain
cancers."
Bacillus is one of the primary bacteria
associated with fermented milk products. As the
article continues, the mechanisms by which
probiotics exert their effects are described.
They may involve modifying gut pH, antagonizing
pathogens through production of antimicrobial
compounds, competing for pathogen-binding and
receptor sites, as well as for available
nutrients and growth factors, stimulating
immunomodulatory cells, and producing lactase.
The article reviews health maintenance and
disease prevention aspects of several strains in
the probiotic array of helpful bacteria, and
praises the cost-effectiveness of this food
supplement. A bacillus supplement is described
as one of the possible helpful products in
creating a barrier against microbial infection.
This description fits our earlier parallel of
bacillus as a useful tool or guardian of the
proper-functioning intestine.
Sylvia Santosa, Edward Farnworth, and Peter
Jones produced a study on probiotics in 2006
with the following conclusion:
"The strongest evidence is related to the use of
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in the prevention and
treatment of rotavirus-associated diarrhea.
Further examination of the literature also shows
promise in the treatment of some forms of
irritative bowel syndrome (IBS) with
probiotics." Although the article makes very
general claims, it does recommend more studies
of bacillus so that specific strains which might
be beneficial to particular diseases can be
fully explored. The article draws on a variety
of human and animal studies that have shown how
bacillus supplements were effective in
benefitting digestive health.
In their 2006 article entitled "Recommendations
for probiotic use," Martin Floch and Karen
Madsen made the following recommendation:
"[Probiotics] may be helpful in the prevention
and treatment of acute diarrhea in adults and
children and the prevention of
antibiotic-associated diarrhea in adults and
children....early results indicate that
probiotics may also be useful in immunologic
modulation to prevent atrophy, treatment of
radiation intestinal disease, vaginosis,
ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel
syndrome..." Comparative and dose-ranging trials
are recommended as further studies in this
article. It is reassuring for users of our
bacillus supplement that our company has gone
further into such dose-ranging trials and
laboratory studies in order to better define the
efficacy of certain bacillus strains, especially
those which are human-derived.
In a dramatic 2005 study, mice with colitis who
were fed Lactobacillus showed a better reaction
than those without it, according to Peter Lange
Moller and Anders Paerregaard. The mice in the
study who were fed the Lactobacillus in their
water supply had a tendency to produce higher
interferon-gamma, indicating a significant boost
to the immune system, perhaps due to the
microbial "guardian" function of bacillus that
was discussed above. The harmful microbial
interactions that typify colitis discomfort,
such as interleukin-4 secretion, were found at
lower levels in the mice that received bacillus
supplements.
Bacillus has been held up as a useful
therapeutic strain in other studies: De Luis and
Santamaria studied the influence of dietary
yogurt with positive results in 2005. This was a
Spanish study of 44 allergic patients who were
affected in a beneficial manner by the microbial
aspects of bacillus. By comparison, the
human-derived bacillus in our own company's
supplements has similar benefits as yogurt
bacillus. Our own studies have indicated
superior performance of the human-derived over
the dairy-derived probiotics. For customers with
dairy allergies, a totally non-dairy form of
bacillus may offer greater comfort than the risk
of trusting a very generalized food label.
Since yogurt labeling can be misleading in the
claims of how many grams of "live probiotic
cultures" are present, we believe that a
completely non-dairy source of bacillus may be
safer than asking a lactose-intolerant
individual to assess the scientific merits of a
yogurt label. Many people exhibit varying levels
of lactose intolerance, sometimes with
occasional mild symptoms, and sometimes in the
form of an extreme allergy. Yogurt with a low
level of active cultures is prevalent in grocery
stores, and those products can cause stomach
irritation when their significant lactose levels
are unmitigated by real probiotic cultures. The
human-derived bacillus in our supplements can
legitimately boast the dietary and therapeutic
benefits shown in multiple studies cited above.
For lactose intolerant individuals, non-dairy
sources can even more compatible with human
digestion, in comparison to dairy sources of
bacillus. Your digestive toolbox will thank you
for the addition of bacillus in the form of a
probiotic supplement.
SOURCES:
1. Ilse J. Broekaert and W. Allan Walker.
"Probiotics and Chronic Disease." Journal of
Clinical Gastroenterology, Vol. 40, No. 3, Mar
2006, pp. 270-274.
2. Cathy Hammerman and Michael Kaplan.
"Probiotics and Neonatal Intestinal Infection."
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, Vol. 19,
No. 3, Jun 2006, pp. 277-282.
3. S. Parvez, K. A. Malik, S. Ah Kang and H.Y.
Kim. "Probiotics and their fermented food
products are beneficial for health." Journal of
Applied Microbiology, Vol. 100, No. 6, Jun 2006,
pp. 1171-1185.
4. Sylvia Santosa, Edward Farnworth and Peter J.
H. Jones. "Probiotics and their potential health
claims." Nutrition Reviews, Vol. 64, No. 6, Jun
2006, pp. 265-274.
5. Martin H. Floch, Karen K. Madsen and David J.
A. Jenkins, et al. "Recommendations for
probiotic use." Journal of Clinical
Gastroenterology, Vol. 40, No. 3, Mar 2006, pp.
275-278.
6. D. A. de Luis, A. R. Santamaría, M. González
Sagrado, O. Izaola, A. Armentía and R. Aller.
"Study of the influence of dietary yogurt in an
allergic population." Anales de Medicina Interna.
(Madrid, Spain : 1984), Vol. 22, No. 2, Feb
2005, pp. 55-58.
7. Osamu Kanauchi, Yoshiaki Matsumoto, Masae
Matsumura, Masamichi Fukuoka and Tadao Bamba.
"The beneficial effects of microflora,
especially obligate anaerobes, and their
products on the colonic environment in
inflammatory bowel disease." Current
Pharmaceutical Design, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2005, pp.
1047-1053.
8. Peter Lange Moller, Anders Paerregaard,
Monika Gad, Nanna Ny Kristensen and Mogens
Helweg Claesson. "Colitic scid mice fed
Lactobacillus spp. show an ameliorated gut
histopathology and an altered cytokine profile
by local T cells." Inflammatory Bowel Diseases,
Vol. 11, No. 9, Sep 2005, pp. 814-819.
************************************
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