Supplements & functional ingredients Case Study
A study investigating respiratory tract discomfort in healthy adults showed that supplementing with the LGG probiotic strain affected the number of antibodies the body produced when confronted with an immune challenge, showing that 29% more participants produced the number of specific antibodies required to counter that specific immune challenge, compared with the placebo group.
The Probiotics Institute
Changing perceptions One thing is clear, the interest in probiotics is driving their use along many different paths. Usually seen as a component in certain foods or as a supplement containing a specific strain, they could soon be administered through a more pharmaceutical route, as probiotic drugs go into development. “Drug development has already started,” notes Srivastava. “Drugs are being studied for infantile colitis and necrotising enterocolitis, but the big area of research now is the gut/brain barrier, which could be important in treating so many conditions including anxiety and depression. Drugs are the next step forwards, but we will see probiotics in more foods, and we will come to understand more about the microbiome and the synergistic effects of both probiotics and probiotics.”
Probiotics are live microorganisms that can improve gut health.
The paper, published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, noted that differences persist in the physiology and metabolism among probiotic strains of various species and, consequently, their effects are different on the human body and even different strains of the same species may have different health effects. It further noted that dosage affects the results and that a probiotic consumed at a higher dose may not be as good as a lower dose. Furthermore, the same probiotic strain can function differently in different hosts.
“As clinicians and scientists learn more, we can advise more. Taking anything is better than nothing, but we need to educate consumers and patients.”
A K Srivatsava, PAI
“Not every probiotic strain is the same,” notes Srivastava. “Much depends on your diet and genetics. You need to be more specific in how strains are studied and how those results are presented. Multiple probiotic drugs will emerge, and those drugs will need to be more specific – that is the path.” “I think probiotics will become more specific to treat or prevent IBS or influenza,” he adds. “Now the question is whether we can help immune systems improve symptoms when you get a viral disease like Covid or flu. Viruses are so hard to treat. Whatever happens, it will come in the form of a drug rather than a particular probiotic strain. Flu treatment is still pretty poor and we’ve been working on that for ages.”
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“There is also research into probiotics and metabolic syndrome, weight reduction and diabetes,” he adds. “The results are ten years down the road, but we have seen lab mice lose fat and we have seen good results with anxiety. So, brain diseases are the key area, but excess weight is the number one comorbidity with Covid, so there could be scope for further research there.”
Given the many factors identified by the Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences team on which the effects of probiotics depend – specific strains, dosages, host genetics and more – it is hard to point to a specific regimen that will benefit a specific individual who wants to improve their immune systems. One big problem with probiotics is that it is easy to generalise in a highly specific field. “Perception is for sure a real problem,” says Laulund. “The science-based suppliers of probiotics are doing a lot of things to educate health professionals and consumers that not all probiotic strains are the same or have equal effect. That is why Chr. Hansen has launched ‘The Probiotics Institute’ to educate them about the properties of probiotics on human health and nutrition.”
“People do overgeneralise and take strains that
don’t have any effect,” says Srivastava. “As clinicians and scientists learn more, we can advise more. Taking anything is better than nothing but we need to educate consumers and patients, as well as ensuring that clinicians and nutritionists understand it better.”
Whether or not probiotics do turn out to have a key role in fighting Covid-19, it is clear that many more people now understand that gut health is the core of physical well-being and contributes in some significant way to immune health. Taking probiotics will play some role in the body’s ability to fight off infections, particularly those that cross into the blood through the GI tract. Good health is gut health. ●
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
FOTOGRIN/
Shutterstock.com
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