Brenda Watson, CNC, the author of the bestselling Fiber 35 Diet shows us how probiotics can help keep us healthy, even during cold and flu season.

Brenda--

Medical research into how our bodies fight off illnesses such as cold and flu has shown that the majority of our immune resistance takes place in the digestive tract. That’s where billions of healthy bacteria called “probiotics” make their home, crowding out harmful infectious agents and stimulating our immune cells to work harder and keep a constant vigil against illness.

Chest Protector
Recent studies have shown that probiotics help the body resist respiratory infections including influenza and the common cold. In Germany, scientists recently discovered that taking a supplement that includes probiotics in addition to vitamins and minerals can alter your susceptibility to colds and flu during peak seasons (Intl Jrnl Clin Pharm Ther 2005 Jul;43(7):318-26). When researchers compared the health of more than 200 people taking the supplements with roughly the same number of those who went without, they found that the group taking probiotics suffered 13 percent fewer respiratory infections. What’s more, when members of the supplement group did get the flu, their symptoms were reduced by 25 percent, and lab work showed that the people taking probiotics had more immune cells ready to take part in their immune defenses.

A similar study in Finland found that giving probiotics to children significantly reduced recurrent respiratory infections (Clin Nutr 2007 Jun;26(3):314-21). Frequent ear infections in children may also be the result of bacteria colonizing in the ear canal (JAMA, 7/11/06), which can be addressed by providing a daily probiotic supplement. Children taking a course of antibiotics may also benefit from taking probiotics, since the beneficial bacteria can help relieve the diarrhea that often accompanies antibiotic treatment. When researchers gave kids probiotics between their doses of antibiotics, they reduced the incidence of diarrhea by about two thirds (Pediatrics 1999 Nov;104(5).

Cellular Protection
So why are probiotics so effective when it comes to boosting immune function? One explanation has to do with their ability to trigger the release in the body of proteins called Toll-like receptors, or TLRs.

TLRs help maintain the health of epithelial cells and activate the body’s injury repair machinery. (Epithelial cells line the internal and external surfaces of the body and its organs, including the intestinal tract, mouth and esophagus.) When probiotic bacteria are absent, as occurs when they are destroyed by antibiotics, TLRs cannot perform the necessary repair work (Cell, 7/23/04). As a result, the body is more susceptible to invasion by pathogens, which can breach the body’s protective membranes.

What the Future Holds
If the trend continues, expect more data about the benefits of probiotics in the future. Scientists worldwide concur that as they continue to gain a better understanding of these intriguing bacteria, the global concept of health and disease will be forever transformed.

Adapted from a Brenda Watson Newsletter       Brenda Watson Interview

BRENDA WATSON