The Case for Probiotics

There’s balance in everything, including the daily reports of the scientific study of food.

On the heels of news that daily consumption of such vital goodies as bacon and processed meats like sausage and hot dogs creates a 42 percent increase in the risk of diabetes and heart attack there’s word of another study that says food supplemented with probiotics makes you healthier.

The Georgetown University School of Medicine with funding provided by the Dannon Company Inc.,  studied the impact of probiotic yogurt-like drinks on daycare children and found a marked reduction in common childhood illnesses.  It is the largest study of probiotic food ever performed in the U.S.

In the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, considered the highest standard of research, 638 healthy children aged 3 to 6 who attended school five days per week were given a strawberry flavored yogurt-like drink each day.

Some of the drinks contained the beneficial bacteria lactobacillus casei, found in DanActive.  At the end of the study there was a startling 19 percent reduction in common illnesses such as upper respiratory tract infections, sinus and ear infections and strep throat among the kids who drank the probiotic.  In the case of gastrointestinal illness, the decrease was 24 percent.

Interestingly, the absentee rate at school did not change, indicating that even when children get sick they are often sent to school anyway, perhaps because working parents cannot take a sick day of their own to stay home and provide care.

Now if we could just blend the two outcomes of the studies mentioned on this blog.  Do you think there’s any way we can get some probiotics into hot dogs and bacon?

Tagged as: DanActive, diet, Georgetown University, Health, probiotics