Vermont_Lymie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9780
posted
I found this 2005 article from consumer reports interesting; they found yogurt to do better in terms of probiotics than supplements! I always thought that the supplements would be more concentrated.
Yogurt has a reputation as a health food for a reason: It contains ``friendly'' bacteria that take up residence in your intestines, where they may help relieve symptoms of common digestive disorders, rev up the immune system, and perhaps provide other benefits.
Scientific interest in these bacteria, known as probiotic (``for life''), is blossoming.
Though the research has yielded few conclusive findings--including whether healthy people reap significant benefits from consuming probiotics regularly--Americans have started to take notice.
Sales of yogurt products reached an all-time high of $2.87 billion in 2004, according to the ACNielsen market research firm.
Sales of probiotic nutritional supplements have risen an average of about 10 percent annually since 1998 to $177 million in 2003, says the Nutrition Business Journal, which tracks the industry.
To find out whether it makes sense to leap on this bacteria bandwagon, we assessed the medical research. We also had two independent labs test 14 capsule, tablet, or soft-gel supplements; 4 liquid supplements; 5 yogurts; and 4 yogurt drinks for live probiotic organisms, including the kind credited with health effects.
Many products list their amount of probiotic bacteria, and some peg it to the date of manufacture, after which levels could change.
We tested products when you'd buy them, after manufacture and before expiration, to see what amounts they actually contained. We tested for contaminants, too. Results showed:
* All products contained the major groups, or genera, of probiotic bacteria labeled, but seven supplements--four pills and three liquids--had far less than the amount claimed at the time of manufacture.
* No yogurt or yogurt drinks listed an amount of specific probiotics, yet they had reason to boast: Most had far higher counts per serving than the supplements.
* No products had detectable levels of harmful bacteria, and none had enough yeast or mold to indicate contamination.
Even if products were uniformly pure and labeled to reflect probiotic amounts at the time of purchase, choosing among them would be confusing.
The main probiotic genera in yogurt and supplements are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. You may not be familiar with them, but they already live in your intestines, where they help break down foods and drugs and prevent disease-causing bugs from settling in.
They also may boost immune-cell activity and produce antimicrobial substances. Consuming extra probiotics should help increase their numbers, which could be beneficial if normal levels are low because of gastrointestinal disorders or the use of antibiotics.
Within these genera are dozens of species, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, or strains, such as Lactobacillus GG, and research results involving one do not necessarily apply to another. ``It gets complicated,'' says Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., an industry consultant and president of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, a nonprofit group. ``These bacteria are very different.''
There are also no officially recommended dosages for health effects and no established limits for safe consumption of probiotics, which are measured in colony forming units (CFUs).
However, the research and experts we consulted indicate that a daily dose of at least 1 billion CFUs is needed to reap meaningful benefits. Our tests showed that most products far exceed that dose: The yogurt products provide about 15 billion to 155 billion CFUs per serving; the supplements, about 20 million to 70 billion CFUs per daily dose.
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