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Did you know that many bacteria are beneficial to health? More than 400 strains of friendly flora, called probiotics, work with our bodies to fight disease in a variety of ways. In fact, good bacteria secrete antibacterial substances that combat the bad "bugs" and help keep us healthy. Probiotics also work to balance the immune system, fighting allergies and reducing the risk of cancer.

Important For Children
A good deal of research on probiotics focuses on their benefits for diarrhea, especially in children. One extensively investigated strain, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, shortened the duration of diarrhea due to rotavirus in one randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with infants and young children. Other clinical trials find that Lactobacillus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii significantly lessen the incidence of diarrhea caused by antibiotic drugs.

Digestive Health
Not surprisingly, probiotics help prevent and treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), while supporting the internal ecosystems of those with Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and ulcerative colitis. And the role of good bacteria extends to healthy individuals, too.

Probiotic Supplements A number of factors can cause the level of friendly flora in the body to decline: diets high in refined foods, chlorinated water, antacids and other acid-lowering drugs, intestinal flu, internal cleansing, some health screenings (such as a colonoscopy), synthetic estrogens (in birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy), antibiotic and steroid drugs, and stress. In these cases, you may need probiotic supplements to restore your supply of friendly flora. "Ideally, the probiotic supplement you choose should contain L. acidophilus and/or other lactobacillus strains and strains of bifidobacteria," says Earl Mindell, RPh, PhD. However, anyone with severe immune dysfunction or any life-threatening disease should use probiotics only under professional supervision.

Without probiotics, important bodily functions including digestion, absorption, and detoxification cannot proceed normally. This explains why antibiotics usually cause digestive problems, since these drugs kill off good as well as bad bacteria. Many probiotics increase the acidity of the gastrointestinal tract, protecting against pathogens and yeasts. Candida albicans yeast in the digestive tract and mucous membranes quickly grows and spreads when the levels of good bacteria fall, setting the stage for severe yeast overgrowth throughout the body and compromising immunity.

Other Benefits
Friendly flora also protect against H. pylori bacteria, implicated in stomach ulcers and cancer. Animal research suggests that friendly bacteria help inhibit the growth of cancer caused by toxic chemicals and may even protect against colon cancer.

Beneficial bacteria manufacture a host of nutrients in the body: amino acids, antioxidants, B complex vitamins, vitamin K, and short-chain fatty acids. Bacterial cultures used to ferment foods make nutrients more bioavailable in the body. These cultures can also help people with lactose intolerance enjoy yogurt and other fermented dairy products.

Sources: Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Probiotics: From Rationale to Clinical Use, Current Opinions in Gastroenterology (Nov. 2005); The Mechanism of Action of Probiotics, Practical Gastroenterology (May 2005); Treatment of Acute Infectious Diarrhea in Infants and Children with a Mixture of Three Lactobacillus rhamnosus Strains ..., Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (Jan. 2006); User's Guide to Probiotics, (Basic Health, 2004).

Reprinted with permission from Price Chopper Natural & Organic magazine, a Lifestyles Ink Publication - the leading in-store publisher of natural, organic and wellness magazines.