Hello Dave,
Beez wrote:
> VERY interesting, Luke, but this study leads me to another novel
> question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg???
The egg. The proto-chicken (or its mate) had some mutated gametes
which lead to the creation of an egg with a modern chicken.
> So you are saying that possibly humans too are actually born with our
> intestinal flora intact?
No, I just thought the study was topical for this discussion. For
mammals, I think we may be born with some but get a lot orally.
>Do you think probiotic supplements are
> useless unless enterically coated?
No.
I've gone over this ground with Willy before which is why I didn't
jump in earlier. See
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sup****t.crohns-colitis/browse_frm/thread/=
fa4f4573ac71a5e6/058b024a0f791c6c
from August 2006.
Evidence to sup****t the use on non-enteric coated probiotics:
yogurt. Yogurt is one of the foods known to contain probiotic
bacteria. Where to you think the supplement manufacturers got the
idea? This is also why, in the USA, they get to sell untested
supplements, they're based on food products.
If you go to PubMed and search for probiotics you'll find a lot of
studies, many for VSL#3, a non-enteric coated probiotic. For example:
=93Probiotics: sorting the evidence from the myths.=94
=93Probiotics consist of yeast or bacteria, especially lactic acid
bacteria. They are available as capsules, powder, fermented milks or
yoghurts. Probiotics exhibit strain-specific differences in their
resistance to acid and bile, ability to colonise the gastrointestinal
tract, clinical efficacy, and benefits to the health of the host.
There is level I evidence for the use of probiotics in treating acute
infectious diarrhoea and preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhoea,
with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii having the
most evidence to sup****t their use for these conditions. There is
level II evidence that S. boulardii combined with high-dose vancomycin
is more effective than the antibiotic alone in preventing recurrent
Clostridium difficile diarrhoea. There is level I evidence that
probiotics prevent traveller's diarrhoea. There is level I evidence
for use of the high-potency probiotic VSL#3 in preventing pouchitis,
and level II evidence for this agent in preventing relapse in patients
with ulcerative colitis. Probiotics are generally regarded as safe and
well tolerated. Some probiotics may be contraindicated in patients who
are immunocompromised or have severe underlying illness, as they have
been re****ted to cause fungaemia and bacteraemia. =93
(Level I: Evidence obtained from at least one properly designed
randomized controlled trial,
Level II-1: Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials
without randomization,
Level II-2: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-
control analytic studies, preferably from more than one center or
research group.)
If you search for =93Nature's Way Primadophilus=94, Willy's preferred
brand, you won't find any matches. It may have been studied but isn't
listed by name in the search indices.
Given that the normal way for people to get intestinal bacteria is
orally, and has been for most of history, I'd rather see evidence that
enteric coatings help the bacteria survive in the gut. Surviving the
transit of the stomach is one thing, actually improving the survival
in the gut is something else.
I use a refrigerated, enteric coated probiotic. Of the few I've
tried, this one seems to help a little and fits my budget. VSL#3 was
just too expensive for me to do more than a month.
--
Luke
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