Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) define Probiotics as ‘live microorganisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.’ These are good bacteria that live in our digestive system and help fight bad bacteria. Probiotic products have specific strains of live bacteria that have potentially favourable health benefits.
Probiotics may be present in many food items but most significant group of probiotic organisms are lactic acid bacteria, meaning they use lactose as a source of energy and hence are associated with dairy foods. While regular milk does not contain significant number of probiotics, it makes an excellent base in which ‘good bacteria’ can multiply.
Some best sources of probiotics
According to the Dairy Council, ‘Milk to which probiotic bacteria have been added such as acidophilus milk and fermented milk products,’ are some of the best sources of probiotics.
Other examples include unfermented milk and cultured milk products like cheese, kefir and Greek yogurt.
Acidophilus milk is milk that has been fermented with probiotic bacteria. Sometimes it is labelled as sweet acidophilus milk.
Buttermilk - Milk that is usually cultured with lactic acid bacteria is also rich in probiotics.
Certain soft fermented cheese like Cheddar, Swiss and particularly Gouda contains bacteria that can easily travel through gastrointestinal tract to benefit health.
Fermented dairy product like yogurt is one of the most common sources of probiotic foods. It is associated with probiotics because the bacterial culture used for its fermentation is a probiotic culture. Yogurt producers add safe and healthy bacteria to milk, bacteria does its work and finally creates a tangy flavour and creamy thickness that makes a delicious yogurt. There are millions of good bacteria in every serving of yogurt.
Some probiotic dairy food and bacteria - Contents
Yogurt always contains L. bulgaricus and S. thermophiles
Acidophilus milk contains L. acidophilus
Cheese and Kefir contains numerous lactic acid bacteria including L. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. kefir
It is important to remember that probiotic benefits require minimum number of bacteria to achieve benefits. Not all fermented products will contain enough number of active microorganisms. The fresher the product, the more organisms will be active.
Potential health benefits
Evidences suggest that probiotic milk and milk products enhance digestive system and overall health by improving gut flora and promoting immunity.
Lactose digestion- Presence of probiotics improves digestion and absorption of milk sugar lactose. There are many people who have difficulty in digesting milk but they can digest yogurt. This is because the beneficial bacteria in yogurt have lactase activity and inhibit lactose fermentation, thus reducing the symptoms of lactose intolerance.
Diarrhoea - Lactic acid bacteria are helpful in preventing and shortening the duration of several types of diarrhoea. Studies show that a number of fermented milk products effectively prevent and treat diarrhoea especially in young children. The World Health Council also stated that probiotics ‘could have a significant effect in alleviating infectious disease in children.’ Probiotics also reduce the symptoms of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.
Inflammatory bowel disease - Probiotics help to reduce inflammations, improve symptoms and ease the discomfort of gastric ulcers and other inflammatory bowel diseases. A recent survey suggests that two out of five patients with IBD use probiotics regularly.
Constipation - Milk products fermented with lactic acid bacteria like acidophilus shorten the intestinal transit time. That means they take less time to travel from mouth to reach the stomach through gastrointestinal tract and thus ease digestion and absorption. This effect may be useful for those with constipation, especially, elderly.
Allergy and infections: Probiotics have anti-inflammatory properties. Probiotics may play a role in treating allergy and infections associated with skin and food. A study showed relation between eczema and cow milk allergy in infants, where the skin condition of the infants getting lactic acid improved significantly. According to a study published in British Journal of Dermatology ‘mothers who drank one glass of milk containing probiotics per day were able to reduce the risk of eczema in their children by 40 per cent.’
Immune system - Lactic acid bacteria enhances the body’s immune system function. These play an important role in development and operations of immune system of our digestive tract. These friendly bacteria train the immune system to distinguish between pathogens and non-harmful antigens and to respond appropriately. This important function prevents the immune system from over reacting. Soft cheese like Gouda acts as a carrier of probiotics and boosts immune system.
While probiotics are available in pill and powder form, getting them from milk and dairy foods like yogurt means we are getting all the health benefits of milk along with dose of probiotics. One can try for homemade yoghurt recipe by adding a spoonful of store-bought yogurt to milk and one can control fat content, sugar and flavour of the yogurt. It is a great way to learn about power of yogurt, milk and probiotics.
The World Health Organization has also recognised that giving probiotics to children and high risk populations, especially milk and milk products with probiotics, is highly recommended and being increasingly advocated by healthcare professionals.
