Once considered fringe or contrarian, scientists and doctors have recently found multiple ways probiotics can benefit health. At the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles, researchers announced that probiotic supplements might help prevent heart disease. Probiotic: from latin pro and biota, meaning "for life." According to Mitchell L. Jones, M.D., Ph.D., a faculty research assistant of medicine at McGill University in Montreal and lead author of the study, taking twice daily doses of a probiotic lowered key cholesterol bearing molecules in the blood, caused "bad" cholesterol levels to plunge and made the total cholesterol count healthier.
The research involved a double blind study in humans and showed a natural substance can do, something Big Pharma's side effect loaded statins can't do, lower "bad" cholesterol without harmful, sometimes fatal, side effects.
Lactobacillus reuteri, a strain of live probiotic microorganisms, had shown promise in lowering blood levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol in earlier studies. In the latest study, investigators used the same probiotic and focused on whether it could lower LDL and reduce molecules of cholesterol esters attached to fatty acids. LDL and elevated cholesterol esters levels are a main contributor to dangerous plaque buildup in the arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease.
Research was conducted on 127 adults who had high cholesterol. One group took the probiotic twice a day, the others were given a placebo. Over a nine week period; those taking the probiotic had reduced LDL levels of 11.6 percent, cholesterol esters were 6.3 percent lower and cholesterol ester saturated fatty acids declined almost nine percent compared with the placebo group. The probiotic strain L. reuteri has a long history of safe use. The researchers stated the probiotic group had no side effects
Research published in the journal Nature stated that if "bad" bacteria overwhelms "good" bacteria in the intestinal tract, aka Candidiasis, the imbalance appears capable of triggering Type II diabetes. Other research informational indicates that probiotics may help prevent or treat type ll diabetes. One of the major causes of the "imbalance" is antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics kill "good" as well as "bad" bacteria. The standard American diet (SAD), which contains lots of added sugars and chemicals, encourages the growth of bad bacteria. If antibiotics are required for treatment, it's a good idea to go on a probiotic regiment to re-establish the good bacteria.
In other research studies, since the mid-1990s, scientists have found that probiotic therapy can help treat various gastrointestinal ills including inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, delay the development of allergies in children plus treat and prevent vaginal and urinary infections in women. Two large reviews involving children suggest that probiotics are capable of reducing antibiotic associated diarrhea by 60% (in children but not adults) when compared with a placebo. Probiotics have also been found to increase the body's immune response to the flu virus and may be an effective flu treatment.
Larry R. Miller has been a freelance writer, worldwide health and fitness information source since 1982.