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Basic concepts / Probiotics
Probiotics
In recent years, there has been a plethora of published scientific studies examining the health attributes of probiotics , especially those related to gastrointestinal health and immune system modulation. While there is a growing list of health benefits provided by the consumption of probiotics, their precise mechanisms of action remain largely unknown.
The ability of lactic acid probiotics to confer health benefits to the intestine and to other sites via the gut has been studied. The FAO/WHO expert report states that "good clinical data, obtained in many cases from randomized, double-blind clinical trials shows that certain strains of probiotics can reduce the risk and duration of diarrhea, lower the incidence of pouchitis and allergic dermatitis, decrease toxic effects of small bowel overgrowth, lower serum cholesterol, inhibit cancer-producing enzymes, reduce the risk of urogenital infection, and potentially stimulate the host's immune response"(1).
While lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria have been scientifically important for over a century, it is only recently that few of them are marketed as probiotics. Probiotics benefits to the human health are broadly recognized today.]
The safety of probiotic organisms is an important criterion for the use of these strains into food products(7). In the great majority of controlled studies with probiotics performed with children and adults, no adverse effects have been observed, not even in studies in which probiotics were administered to humans suffering from a severely compromised immune system(3,6,8 ). In addition, probiotics were not found to have any toxic effects in animal tests(8).
