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New Study Explores How Probiotics Could Influence US Healthcare Costs
A new economic modeling study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology last month explored how probiotics can be used to reduce healthcare costs while “instilling a spirit of proactivity for healthcare providers”. Acute respiratory tract infections (RTI), pose a heavy burden on the US healthcare system and society at large. The study took the form of…
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Amazonian Tribe Study Shows an Evolution of the Microbiota
A study presented in the journal Science Advances revealed key information on how the human gut microbiome is changing over time, which also influences our immune response.
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Probiotics May Directly Affect Breast Milk Carbohydrate Composition
New research has revealed a possible two-way connection between maternal dietary microbes and the makeup of the oligosaccharide sugar molecules found in human breast milk. Until recently, it was thought that oligosaccharides affected the microbial communities within an infant’s gut, acting as prebiotics that then decreased their risk of certain infections, conditions and diseases. Studies…
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Probiotics for Immune Support
You have already heard about washing your hands, getting plenty of rest, getting your vitamin D and eating a diet rich in antioxidants and various botanicals such as Echinacea, Astragalus, Elderberry and mushroom blends, but what other immune-boosting tactics might be missing from your medicine cabinet? To keep the immune system running strong, there might…
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Probiotics May Improve Metabolic Profiles
Most people generally associate probiotics with fostering the growth of good bacteria in the gut, however, more and more clinical studies are highlighting the role of probiotics beyond the gut. One randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind study looked at the effects of probiotic supplementation on the metabolic profiles in diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).…
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Probiotics and the Brain
The mind-body connection garners a lot of attention these days, with explosive and ever-emerging research demonstrating the importance of seeing the body as a whole, rather than fractured systems. When talking about the brain, it’s hard to ignore the gut. The gut-brain axis is a good example of this; with the ability of the gut…
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Probiotics with a Purpose
Probiotics are classically defined as a “preparation of, or a product containing viable, defined microorganisms in sufficient numbers, which alter the microbiota in a compartment of the host, and exert beneficial health effects in the host”. Their use can be traced back 10,000 years ago even before the awareness of probiotic microorganisms through the widespread availability…
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Veggies Boost Probiotic Benefits
Taking probiotics with a Big Mac might not do you any good at all, according to an article published by the Division of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. In fact, The Western diet, very low in dietary fiber, has shifted our gut microbiota to become less diverse than more traditional diets, which is wreaking havoc…