Probiotics are not a new invention.  In fact the health effects of ingesting live beneficial bacteria goes back to the early 1900′s with the work of Metchnikoff, a Russian scientist who was working out of the Pasteur Institute in Paris at the time.  Building on evidence of the effect of lactic-acid bacteria controlling the growth of proteolytic bacteria in milk, and slowing its fermentation process, he suggested that we could do the same with bacteria that reside in our intestinal tract: replacing harmful bacteria with useful bacteria.

So the field of probiotics was born (although the term itself was introduced much later).

Now if you walk into any large grocery store you’ll find all sorts of foods labelled as “probiotic.”   Not just yogurt – you’ll also come across probiotic cereals, drinks, energy bars and so on.  Then on the food supplement shelf, you’ll find rows and rows of glass bottles packed full of live probiotic cultures to help with all kinds of ailments.

It’s enough to make your head spin.

Although the effects of probiotic bacteria are rooted in long standing science, the labelling and regulation around probiotic foods and supplemtns is not very well regulated.  You’ll find all sorts of health claims made, not all of which are independently verifiable.  Further, its improtant to realize that the health effects of probiotics vary according to the particualr bacterial strain being ingested.  So not all Lactobacillus acidophilus species of bacteria will have an identical positive health benefit.  Lactobacillus acidophlus CL1285 has been linked to digestive health whereas Lactobacillus acidophilus LAFTI L10 may assist in the clearance of Candida.   (Note the strain is typically identified by the series of numbers and letters after the infromation on the genera (Lactobacillus in this example) and species (acidophilus).  (Note the term acidophilus bactiera is also widely misunderstood, but that is the subject of another post).

The other point to bear in mind is the quantity of live bacteria available in the “probiotic” foods and supplements available for sale.  The information on the number of Colony Forming Units (the measurement generally used) is not always given.  In many cases you may simply not be ingesting sufficent quantities of viable CFU’s to confer a health benefit.

The bacteria also need to be viable (i.e live) when ingested.  So here packaging and storage is crucial.  Freeze drying is generally thought to not have a negative impact on viability, but this can vary from strain to strain.

There is more, but I’ll stop there.  The key point is to understand is that quality varies and you need to take your time when choosing a probiotic food or supplement.  In a later post we’ll cover the 5 things to look for.  Once it’s live we’ll link to it here.  In the meantime check out this site on the best probiotic supplements.  It provides a useful summary of what constitute quality.