“Many yoghurts are loaded with live bacteria, and labelled with claims that consuming these microorganisms can be good for your health. But a study published today shows that such yoghurts have only subtle effects on the bacteria already in the gut and do not replace them.”
Yes, but the paper goes to point out that both in humans and mice, there was an upregulation of polysaccharide metabolism genes in the existing gut microbes. Hm, there are some serious implications there.
“This study has identified the first bacterial genes required for induction of settlement and metamorphosis of a marine invertebrate animal.”
This is an interesting genetic study as to what in the bacteria cause the induction of settlement and metamorphosis. Hooray for Nature for making this paper open so that I could read it. Though the paper focused on the genetic aspects and didn’t speculate (unless I missed it) how this connection arose evolutionarily. My speculation is that the bacteria is an environmental marker, telling the worm where to settle and grow.
Cool, huh?
A Global Strategic Business Report
This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Probiotics in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Latin America. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for each region for the period 2007 through 2015. Also, a seven-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The report profiles 119 companies including many key and niche players such as BioGaia Biologics AB, Chr. Hansen A/S, Danisco A/S, Groupe Danone, Institut Rosell, Lifeway Foods, Inc., Natren, Inc., Nestlé Nutrition, Probi AB, Seven Seas Ireland Ltd., Stonyfield Farm, Valio Ltd., and Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are mostly extracted from URL research and reported select online sources.
Alas, too expensive for me to purchase. But if I were really in the business, probably worth it.
“Global Industry Analysts (GIA) predicts the global probiotics market will be worth $28.8bn by 2015, even though the market is still considered to be in infancy. “
I like this.
“Supplements containing a combination of Lactobacillus salivarius and fructo-oligosaccharide for eight weeks were associated with significant reductions in measures of the severity of eczema, compared with a control group receiving only prebiotics, according to findings published in the British Journal of Dermatology.”
In addition to the usual yogurt bugs, I am starting to see salivarius popping up more frequently. It’s from the mouth, by the way.
“The story of a group of University of Massachusetts students who set out to initiate the construction of the school’s first permaculture garden a year ago is a remarkable one, but it’s only the beginning of a worldwide movement.”
This is really interesting. Small-scale farming was killed by industrial farming to feed huge masses. But could it be that small-scale farming, like it used to be, to feed a local group, say a family or a cafeteria, is making a comeback? That would be cool.
Question: does technology and science help make us better “micro-farmers”?
Image of the garden from the article linked above.
When I lived in the US in the 90s, it was hard to find live-culture yogurt in supermarkets (you could find them in natural food stores, of course). The only one I could find was Stonyfield yogurt.
When I lived in Finland, not only were there a bunch of live-culture milk products, but there was one in particular “Valio A+” that was specifically recommended for women to balance their flora.
Now back in the US, it’s hard not to find live-culture yogurt, and some are specifically marketed, yes, for women to balance their flora. Furthermore, the use of live bacterial cultures for health purposes, called probiotics, has become mainstream enough that you can find probiotic supplements for children in the supermarket.
What does this mean?
It means that folks are becoming aware of functional foods, of the importance of microorganism in their diet, and that the feeding desire to find a short cut (a pill rather than eating wholesome yogurt) is always a good business.
I’ve been seeking out all these probiotic products to get an idea of what’s out there, what the message is, and, for me, always on the look out for practical use of microbes, I’ve been trying to understand what microorganisms are in fashion.
OK, so the science behind probiotics is still in progress, so I will not go into that right now.
But, going on the premise that yogurt is the gold standard for beneficial live (with microorganisms) food, then my standard for all probiotic products used for digestive health is Stonyfield’s yogurt. Stonyfield’s has 6 bacteria (S thermophilus, L bulgaricus, L acidophilus, Bifidus, L casei, and L rhamnosus). I’d say that most of the products I have seen have one or more of these bugs. There are some proprietary sub-species and I’ve been pleased to see a few products with S salivarius or some other bacteria.
For me, the type, variety, and number of bacteria in a probiotic food or supplement is key. And I think it’s just snake oil if the product only has one bug.
Nonetheless, I think as probiotics go mainstream, buyers will be more astute as to what they are looking for. Also, I hope that new applications show up, beyond gut and vaginal flora health (I can think of a few).
What I do know, is that doctors are starting to suggest probiotics to patients on antibiotics or with digestive issues such as colitis or C diff.*
And that’s great.
Do you eat probiotic foods or take supplements? Send me pics of the ones you see or take! I could/should create a database of products and attach reviews or commentary. Hm…. not another project….
*Ego boost: A gastroenterologist aked me recently what probiotics I recommended. Ha! My first probiotic consulting gig?
As you know, I’m always looking for practical uses of microbes. One that I stumbled upon a long while back was “transfaunation”, or, seeding one person’s gut with microbes from another’s. Yes, transfering poop microbes from one to another.
Be an adult. Don’t get grossed out. I’ve read some great papers on the process how our guts get colonized after birth. Also, there are some really interesting papers on how our gut microbes (or lack thereof) are involved in various intestinal disorders. And there are some promising papers on how diet affect the bacterial ecology in the gut. [Sorry, I’ll link to the papers in a larger gut related set of posts at some point in the future – you can also just search for gut and microbes in my posts.]
Here’s the basic idea. People suffering from the hardy C. diff bacteria are generally prescribed a powerful antibiotic. Problem is, the drugs don’t just kill the invaders; they also wipe out much of the beneficial bacteria in the gut. With these “good” microorganisms out of the way, any C. diff stragglers have a much easier time regrouping for a second bout of illness. If there were some way to respawn the beneficial bacteria in the intestines, such re-infections could be warded off. Some people, like Ruth, turn to expensive probiotic supplements. (At one point she was spending $350 on them every week.) But in certain cases, a patient who has lost nearly all of her good bacteria will find it nearly impossible to get them back. A fecal transplant seems to work as a sort of mega-probiotic, allowing doctors to repopulate a patient’s intestines with the appropriate microorganisms by placing a robust sample directly into her gut.
Slate had a nice article on the subject (quoted above). It’s a serious subject and for many, the only hope to get a better and healthier bacterial gut fauna (hence the term, transfaunation).
My wife’s a vet and she’s not only heard of this procedure, but performed it on animals. It’s not uncommon to jumpstart an animal’s ability to digest grass by grabbing bugs from one animal and putting it in the right place. And, did you know, some animals eat poop on purpose for this very reason – rabbits, capibaras, hamsters, elephants, termites, pandas, koalas, and hippos – to colonize their gut?
And really, folks eat yogurt to populate their gut with good bacteria. Why not poo bacteria as probiotics? I actually think, as we learn more about our gut fauna, this will be come a more accepted course of action for folks with nasty bowel infections, colitis, or inflammatory bowel diseases.
What do you think?
Image of Kristen Paulson’s Anatomy and Guts Embroidery Hoop Art on Etsy (get your own!)
I stumbled upon domestic-use in-vessel composters (on a lead from @harvestpower, of course).
I had heard of in-vessel composting, but never realized that at least two companies created machines that you plug in, feed with your organic waste (with addition of saw dust), and out comes compost.
As far as I can tell, the process is very fast, so it’s immature compost (composting has a final curing step). But I’m sure the raw stuff that comes out of these machines is pretty good. And to me, one could use this machine for the first step and have a larger separate bin for the curing step.
The two are:
I am so tempted to buy one. Maybe the manufacturers could “lend” me a machine for review and comparisons (hint hint)?
Alas, my wife suggested I build one myself. Gah. Not happening soon.
Image from Nature Mill
“Health claims for probiotics are evaluated by the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies of the European Food Safety Authority. Despite a substantial amount of basic and clinical research on the beneficial effects of probiotics, all of the evaluated claim applications thus far have received a negative opinion. With the restrictions on the use of clinical endpoints, validated biomarkers for gut health and immune health in relation to reduction in disease risk are needed. Clear-cut criteria for design as well as evaluation of future studies are needed. An open dialogue between basic and clinical scientists, regulatory authorities, food and nutrition industry, and consumers could bridge the gap between science and marketing of probiotics.”
Not sure what to make of this other than the comment that ‘clear-cut criteria’ will be needed to actually turn claims into science.