For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, probiotics are microscopic living organisms that are similar to the microscopic living organisms living in the human digestive tract. For the most part, probiotics are bacteria, the types of bacteria often referred to as “good bacteria” or “friendly bacteria.” The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, describes probiotics as “live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (National Institute of Health, 2007/2008).” Probiotics are available to the consumer as dietary supplements. Probiotics are sold as complementary and alternative medicines.
In the healthy organism there is a fine balancing act going on between good microorganisms and bad microorganism. This balance is necessary for the development and functioning of our immune system. The problem is that we live in a sea of unfriendly microorganism that try to invade our bodies and upset the tenuous balance between the good and the bad microorganisms so people use probiotics to help maintain the balance. Some people get their probiotics through the consumption of foods that contain them, like some forms of yogurt, fermented and unfermented milk, miso, tempeh, and some juices and soy beverages. Other people take them in the form of pills, capsules and/or powders.
The balance necessary for health can be upset by the antibiotics we take to treat disease because many antibiotics not only kill off the bad, disease causing microorganisms but kill off some good microorganisms as well. This collateral damage can’t be helped but people try to limit its effects by ingesting probiotics supplements. The balancing act is also disrupted from without by the disease-causing bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and parasites that enter our bodies through every bodily orifice. The question is; do these dietary supplements actually work?
Our understanding of how probiotics actually work is still in its early stages and the jury is still out on whether there really make a positive impact on our health or not but it looks promising. According to a study conducted in 2005, probiotics seem to have a positive impact in the prevention and treatment of
1) Diarrhea caused by the rotavirus
2) Urinary tract diseases
3) Female genital tract diseases
4) Irritable bowel syndromes
5) Bowel cancer
6) Treating intestinal infections caused by Clostridium difficile
7) The treatment of atopic dermatitis, or eczema
Although there doesn’t appear to be any negative aspects to taking probiotics as dietary supplements, they shouldn’t be used as an alternative to getting proper medical attention from a licensed physician. It’s also recommended by the medical experts that you discuss any probiotics that you are thinking about taking with your doctor before you start taking them.
