Health And Fitness News 

Unusual Benefits Of Probiotics

Probiotics are commonly used to help improve digestion, and repopulate the gut with beneficial bacteria after an antibiotic course. However, as well as these more general benefits, probiotics also have some very specific uses, as scientists are now discovering.

Research has linked probiotics with:

* a protection against bacterial infection
* a lower risk of developing eczema
* improvements in the gut health of premature babies
* speeding the recovery from stomach ulcers

A lot of these benefits of probiotics are associated with their influence on the immune system. This influence can be quite varied, however.

For example, with regards to the potential protection against bacteria, probiotics may help by adhering to the gut wall and preventing 'bad' bacteria from doing so instead. This is how probiotics reduces the impact of food poisoning by salmonella. Salmonella need to attach to the gut wall to reproduce in the intestine, and so cause illness. 5 lactobacillus strains have demonstrated an effectiveness against salmonella. It's no wonder many travelers take probiotics with them when they travel to some countries known to cause gut problems.

Another study examined the effect of one strain of the probiotic Lactobacillus salivarius, known by the moniker UCC118, on listeria. This was a test on animals, but it found that the probiotic protected them from infection when they were exposed to listeria. The scientists found that in this instance, the Lactobacillus salivarius produced a compound that had an antibiotic-like effect. They were able to demonstrate that it was this compound, called a bacteriocin, that was responsible for protecting the health of the mice.

Most of these studies are on animals, so more need to be undertaken to confirm these effects in people, but they offer a potential insight into the ways in which probiotics can help people deal with certain diseases.