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Probiotics- a look at culture
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Probiotic seems to be one of the current buzzwords of nutrition. The recent aggressive and effective advertising of large yogurt brands such as Dannon, has been somewhat of a double-edged sword in terms of educating the public on the health benefits of probiotics. While the company has spotlighted a few of the benefits of probiotics to the sell their product, the bi-product has been a large pool of consumers who both seek the healing properties of probiotics and think that they can only find them in Dannon’s Activia Yogurt. While the fallacy that Activia is the only yogurt that contains probiotics has confused people, the massive advertising of this company has perked up consumers ears to a culture of bacteria that can be quite helpful in treating and preventing a variety of ailments.
It is frustrating and insulting that a company has attempted to take ownership of probiotics to make their yogurt seem more special than others. However, perhaps the company has not noticed that Americans are actually becoming more food conscience, and we cannot be fooled so easily. So, thank you Dannon for planting the seed about probiotics. It is so nice that even the generic brands of yogurt and a variety of other inexpensive cultured dairy products are full that good stuff. Now, with a little unendorsed information on probiotics, we can learn a little more about these super bacteria.
The human body contains billions of bacteria and other microorganisms. Dietary supplements or foods that contain beneficial, or "good," bacteria that are similar to those normally found in your body are known as probiotics. On average, the human digestive system contains more than 400 types of probiotic bacteria. While probiotics are not considered essential to health, these microorganisms may provide some of the same health benefits that the bacteria already existing in your body do — such as assisting with digestion and helping protect against harmful bacteria.
There are quite a few foods that contain probiotics, including:
- Yogurt
- Kefir
- Labne (Mediterranean Cheese style yogurt)
- Miso
- Kimchi (fresh unpasteurized)
- Sauerkraut (fresh unpasteurized)
- Curtido (fresh unpasteurized)
Public and scientific interest in probiotics is continually growing. Researchers are studying whether probiotics taken as foods or supplements can help treat or prevent illness. There is encouraging evidence that probiotics may help treat a plethora of ailments including some of the following:
- Treat diarrhea, especially following treatment with certain antibiotics
- Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections
- Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Reduce bladder cancer recurrence
- Shorten the duration of intestinal infections
- Prevent and treat inflammation following colon surgery (pouchitis)
- Prevent eczema in children
Some researchers speculate that probiotics may improve general wellness. Supporting this belief is a small 2005 study in Sweden. The study found that a group of employees who were given the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri missed less work due to respiratory or gastrointestinal illness than did employees who were not given the probiotic.
For an excellent condiment rich in probiotics check out www.examiner.com/examiner/x-12263-LA-Healthy-Cooking-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Mediterranean-style-yogurt-dip
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