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Probiotics: Restoring the Balance

Elie Metchnikoff was the first to suggest that we might counter such conditions by eating bacteria for ou' health. He proposed this during the latter part of the nineteenth century when he connected the longevity of certain long-lived peoples with the fact that they ate yogurt and other kinds of fermented milk. "His lectures and publications brought about a rage to drink sour-milk products in Europe and North America during the first two decades of the 20th century." The rage eventually died down, but it's returned now, and probably with good reason. All that we've reviewed so far suggests Metchnikoff may have been right.
Bacteria that we eat in this fashion are called probiotics. They include not only fermented milk products, but also "freeze-dried powders (loose or in capsules), liquid suspensions, granules, pastes [and] gels." They contain lactic-acid bacteria-the ones with the " 'squeaky clean' image." The chief feature of these bacteria is that they "consume a large amount of carbohydrates to produce acids, particularly lactic acid." The best known of these lactic acid bacteria are Lactobacillw acidophilw, Lactobacillw bulgaricw, and Bifidobacterium bifulum.
If you decide to eat probiotics, remember that commercial yogurt usually isn't alive. To see if yogurt you've purchased is alive, mix a few tablespoons in a cupful of heated (not boiled) milk. Leave it overnight in a warm place, and if the yogurt has live bacteria in it, the milk will have thickened by morning.
If you choose to eat probiotic supplements, here are some guidelines you can follow:
-- The number of live organisms should be in the billions per gram. "Supplements [that] state their content in millions of organisms per gram are probably not adequate."
-- Products should not be centrifuged; centrifuging damages individual bacteria and breaks up the chains that they form.
-- Be aware that the best brands test their claims, but that many brands don't.
-- If the information isn't on the label, try to find out which strains of bacteria are used in the product. In general, the more information on the label, the more confident the manufacturer is about what its product can do.
-- The best container for probiotic products is amber glass.
-- If you react allergically to milk-based acidophilus products, other bases are available.
-- The best products are refrigerated from the time they're manufactured; all should be refrigerated after
they're opened.
-- "All the evidence points to the best time for taking such supplements as being an hour before mealtimes We suggest that they be taken with a tumbler o unchilled filtered or spring water, not with juices, milk or any other beverage which would stimulate production of digestive acids."