Lactobacillus
The human gastrointestinal tract, or GI tract,
is like a food-processing factory. If you
picture the inner workings of your body like an
assembly line, then the helpful bacteria act as
the workers in this factory. Your body's
intestinal microflora include probiotic bacteria
such as Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and
Lactobacillus Acidophilus, which often work as a
team to take in raw materials, both helping to
sort the useful versus harmful substances that
you eat. Lactobacillus also serves your internal
digestive factory as an agent that converts
lactose to lactase, competes with harmful
bacteria for nutrients, and produces as a
byproduct some helpful antibacterial substances
that promote a healthy environment for the GI
tract. If Lactobacillus populations within your
gut are present at suboptimal levels, a
probiotic supplement is beneficial to beef up
the labor pool and sorting of nutrients versus
toxins in your "internal factory."
Many studies have teamed multiple strains of
Lactobacillus together to administer a probiotic
supplement which appears to have beneficial
toxin-fighting effects in humans and animals.
Microbial members of the Lactobacillus group are
typically present in natural yogurt and
fermented dairy products. Some studies of
Lactobacillus have additionally sought out
non-dairy sources of Lactobacillus. Our
company's Lactobacillus probiotic supplement
uses a non-dairy source that reduces any
potential for milk-related allergies. Our own
laboratory studies of dosing levels and
reactions to the Lactobacillus supplement have
indicated that the supplement form is far
superior, better tolerated, and more effective
than simply adding yogurt to the diet. For
lactose intolerant customers, we take the
guesswork out of which product might produce a
dairy-related allergy. In this way, the many
benefits of Lactobacillus can be fortified and
strengthened by adding it to your diet as a
supplement without ingesting dairy products.
In the March 2005 issue of "American Journal of
Physiology," Fergus Shanahan reports that the
intestinal flora is a positive asset to a host's
immune system defense. He describes strategies
to enhance assets or offset microbial
liabilities and shows how these options
represent therapeutic possibilities. He
discusses a justifiable rationale for
manipulation of the flora involved in irritable
bowel syndrome. Shanahan suggests that the the
diversity of messages or signals sent between
the cells and microbes of the human gut presents
an untapped reservoir of potential future
therapies. Analysis of signaling and natural
regulatory functions among the flora and host
epithelium, lymphoid tissue, and neuromuscular
apparatus is a field of study that is quickly
gaining ground in medical journals. To quote
this study directly, Shanahan concludes that
"the capacity to engineer food-grade or
commensal bacteria to deliver therapeutic
molecules to the intestinal mucosa promises to
extend the scope of microbial manipulation for
the benefit of mankind."
Robin Spiller noted in 2005 that irritable bowel
syndrome or IBS can go into remission
spontaneously, implying that a cure is possible.
Several predictors of good prognosis are
analyzed in this study. She reports that
possible disease-modifying treatments with
long-lasting effects include probiotics, which
may have a benefit in altering bacterial
microflora and as anti-inflammatory agents.
In their study of GI infections for the British
Journal of Nutrition, Gibson and McCartney study
whether or not probiotics can elicit inhibitory
effects against pathogens. They conclude that an
increase in certain microflora does prove
effective at repressing the spread of infectious
agents when they enter the GI tract. In this
study, they recommend a fortification of
Lactobacillus microbes by the use of prebiotics
or probiotics for improved protection. They cite
a number of potential mechanisms for
Lactobacillus bacteria to reduce intestinal
infections. Firstly, metabolic end products such
as acids excreted by these micro-organisms may
lower the gut pH (i.e., increase acidity) to
levels at which pathogens cannot compete. Also,
many lactobacilli species are able to excrete
natural antibiotics, which can have a broad
spectrum of activity. Other helpful probiotic
mechanisms include an improved immune
stimulation, competition for nutrients, and
blocking of pathogen adhesion sites in the gut.
Many intestinal pathogens like E coli and
salmonellae use receptor sites in the gut to
establish themselves. Then these toxins can
cause gastroenteritis through their invasive
properties. One way that prebiotics and
probiotics appear to work, according to the
British study, is by simulating such receptor
sites in the human GI tract, at the microscopic
level. Through the action of Lactobacilli
probiotics, pathogens appear to be "decoyed"
into not binding to the host's intestinal
mucosa.
The British study cited above calls to mind the
parallel of the assembly line in the body's
internal factory. Lactobacillus microflora
appear to grab (or attract) and sort toxins,
guiding them away from the lining of the GI
tract by use of the decoy action described in
the Gibson and McCartney study. The British
study also concludes that the combined effects
of probiotics on intestinal microflora, as well
as their unique anti-adhesive strategies, may
lead to new dietary interventions against
toxins.
In the publication "Proceeding of the Nutrition
Society," Elizabeth Furrie points out that
allergies are caused by an immune reaction that
is out of proportion to other functions in the
digestive system. The physiological outcome is
inflammation commonly displayed by rhinitis,
skin irritation, vomiting, and diarrhea,
depending on the route of allergen entry. In
extreme reactions, anaphylactic shock can result
from allergies. Chronic allergic responses most
commonly present themselves as asthma and
eczema. All these symptoms are the consequence
of an imbalanced immune system making an
unsuitable response to an environmental or food
antigen. In this study, a harmful reduction of
GI tract microflora is seen more frequently
among bottle-fed infants and children, in
comparison to breast-fed babies. Furrie found
that the use of probiotic therapy to boost
intestinal microflora and prevent allergic
disease has been demonstrated in two studies
using a probiotic Lactobacillus combination in
infants. A long-term reduction in allergy has
been shown in the test group, with various
Lactobacillus strains reducing the incidence of
atopic eczema. Management of allergy through
probiotics has also been demonstrated in
infants, using Lactobacillus strains to control
atopic eczema and cow's milk allergy.
In their 2005 study, Szajewska and Mrukowics
found that probiotics, defined as microbial cell
preparations or components of microbial cells,
do have a beneficial effect on the health and
well being of the GI tract. Beneficial effects
of probiotics in children's acute infectious
diarrhea seem to be more evident when treatment
with probiotics is initiated early in the course
of the disease, or prior to the stomach upset as
a preventive course of action. In this study,
three large, randomly controlled trials provide
evidence of a statistically significant effect
of Lactobacillus probiotics on the prevention of
community-acquired diarrhea. They noted that the
effects of different probiotic micro-organisms
are not equal, but many results of random trials
have shown promising results for Lactobacillus.
As a single probiotic supplement, or combined
with other microbial flora, Lactobacillus has
acquired a solid scientific following, as shown
in the studies cited above. As a tool for
supporting digestive health, our company offers
the Lactobacillus microbe in several forms. To
increase the efficiency of the toxin-blocking
function within your own "digestive factory," we
highly recommend Lactobacillus as a probiotic
supplement with proven results. Whether you are
interested in reducing digestive problems, or
preventing the onset of an intestinal upset, our
products derived from Lactobacillus have shown a
documented advantage in the toxin-blocking
function of this helpful microflora.
SOURCES:
1. Amy C. Brown, Anne Shovic, Salam A. Ibrahim,
Peter Holck and Alvin Huang. "A non-dairy
probiotic's (poi) influence on changing the
gastrointestinal tract's microflora
environment." Alternative Therapies in Health
and Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 1, Jan-Feb 2005, pp.
58-64.
2. Hyeyoung Kim, Kubum Kwack, Dae-Young Kim and
Geun Eog Ji. "Oral probiotic bacterial
administration suppressed allergic responses in
an ovalbumin-induced allergy mouse model." FEMS
Immunology and Medical Microbiology, Vol. 45,
No. 2, August 2005, pp. 259-267.
3. Fergus Shanahan. "Physiological basis for
novel drug therapies used to treat the
inflammatory bowel diseases: Pathophysiological
basis and prospects for probiotic therapy in
inflammatory bowel disease." American Journal of
Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver
Physiology, Vol. 288, No. 3, March 2005, pp.
G417-21.
4. Robin Spiller. "Potential future therapies
for irritable bowel syndrome: will disease
modifying therapy as opposed to symptomatic
control become a reality?" Gastroenterology
Clinics of North America, Vol. 34, No. 2, June
2005, pp. 337-354.
5. G. R. Gibson, A. L. McCartney and R. A.
Rastall. "Prebiotics and resistance to
gastrointestinal infections." The British
Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 93 Suppl 1, April
2005, pp. 531-4.
6. Elizabeth Furrie. "Probiotics and allergy."
The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, Vol.
64, No. 4, November 2005, pp. 465-469.
7. Hania Szajewska and Jacek Z. Mrukowicz. "Use
of probiotics in children with acute diarrhea."
Pediatric Drugs, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2005, pp.
111-122.
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