Probiotics May Help Prevent Food Poisoning
This research article caught my eye because eating probiotic foods like cultured milk products (yogurt, cottage cheese or kefir) is what I recommend to promote normal intestinal function during diarrhea, vomiting or intestinal cramping due to food poisoning. Improvement in usually seen within an hour or two. The abstract below discusses a research study that reports animals treated with dietary probiotics had reduced incidence, severity, and duration of diarrhea after exposure to food poisoning bacteria. This suggests that at least in newborn pigs, an established culture of probiotics in the gut helps counteract or prevent some symptoms of food poisoning.
Probiotic bacteria convert milk to yogurt, are native to the gut and have a normalizing effect on intestinal function. Lactobacillus Acidophilus (milk bacteria-liking acid) is one of several strains of probiotic bacteria. Acidophilus produce most of the B-complex vitamins, some vitamin K, lactic acid that counteracts yeast overgrowth, and natural antibiotic substances that counteract gas forming and food poisoning bacteria. Acidophilus bacteria can be killed off by antibiotic drugs, which can make one prone to yeast infections, diarrhea or constipation. To reestablish the good bacteria in the gut, you should include some cultured milk products or probiotic capsules in your diet everyday for a few days.
Acidophilus strains may vary with the brand of yogurt or acidophilus capsules (health food store). Consuming several different brands of probiotics may help to ensure that a strain of bacteria that adapts well to your chemistry will be established. After several days, you can decrease the probiotics to once or twice a week to maintain the culture in the gut.
John W. Cartmell, MS
Certified Nutritionist
www.dietadvisor.com
A five-strain probiotic combination reduces pathogen shedding and alleviates disease signs in pigs challenged with Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17261517&query_hl=38&itool=pubmed_docsumMar. 2007
Salmonella spp. infection is a major cause of gastroenteritis, with many thousands of cases reported in the European Union every year. The use of probiotics offers the potential to improve this situation. Here, we investigate the effects of oral treatment of pigs with a defined lactic acid bacteria culture mixture on both clinical and microbiological signs of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection. Fifteen weaned pigs blocked by sex and weight were administered control milk or a mixture of five probiotic strains as either a milk fermentate or milk suspension for a total of 30 days. The mixture consisted of two strains of Lactobacillus murinus and one strain each of Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius, Lactobacillus pentosus, and Pediococcus pentosaceous. Following probiotic administration for 6 days, animals were challenged orally with serovar Typhimurium; the health of the animals and the microbiological composition of their feces were monitored for 23 days postinfection. Animals treated with probiotic showed reduced incidence, severity, and duration of diarrhea. These animals also gained weight at a greater rate than control pigs administered skim milk. Mean fecal numbers of Salmonella were significantly reduced in probiotic-treated animals at 15 days postinfection (P = 0.01). The administered probiotic bacteria improved both the clinical and microbiological outcome of Salmonella infection. These strains offer significant benefit for use in the food industry and may have potential in human applications.
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