Posted on: September 14, 2007
Live Active Cultures!!!
Probiotics are bacteria even germ-phobic foodies can eat and feel good about
By Bev Bennett
CTW Features
In a germ-phobic day and age, the notion of intentionally consuming bacteria may seem counterintuitive. Eating bacteria-rich food, however, may be the solution to many nagging health concerns, according to devotees.
Europeans, who have been eating yogurt with live cultures for years, claim to have improved digestion, less atopic ezcema, fewer food allergies and fewer urinary tract infections.
Americans, who haven’t been as culture-driven, may be developing an appetite for microscopic critters such as Lactobacillus casei, according to a prominent scientist.
If you’ve been squeamish about bacteria in your food, maybe it’s time to change your mind. Research is catching up with anecdotal endorsements. Evidence suggests that having and maintaining a good supply of beneficial organisms, called probiotics, helps protect the body from infections and some chronic conditions, such as asthma.
These organisms may have a function as important as any organ in your body, according to Gary B. Huffnagle, Ph.D., internal medicine, microbiology and immunology professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
“There’s a big push in medical schools doing research on the role of microflora in disease,” Huffnagle says.
When you think of bacteria you probably think of cold-inducing germs or the bugs that cause an upset stomach.
Probiotics have the opposite effect, working to offset the effects of unfriendly organisms that cause stomach inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome or skin infections. They may also strengthen your immune system so you’re less susceptible to allergies, Huffnagle says.
In addition, probiotics may help your system rebuild its supply of friendly bacteria that are destroyed along with the harmful ones when you’re on a course of antibiotics, according to Huffnagle, author of “The Probiotics Revolution” (Bantam Books, 2007).
He says although studies using probiotics are just beginning, there’s little risk in adding probiotic foods to your diet now. “Probiotics are your bank account,” he says. When you do get a [body] stress, you’ll recover more quickly.”
Dairy foods, primarily yogurt, which contain the words “live cultures,” are a good source for probiotics. Aged cheese, kefir and fermented pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso also contain probiotics. Probiotics are killed in cooking, Huffnagle says, so select foods you’ll eat raw.
