# probiotics; opinions, comments?



## Ernest Nagel (Jan 25, 2008)

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/can-yogurt-really-boost-your-health/

Maye this belongs in the Health Forum?

EXCERPT:

January 24, 2008, 1:26 pm
*Can Yogurt Really Boost Your Health?*

One of the hottest food marketing trends these days involves adding live bacteria to dairy products as a way to boost health.
A lawsuit challenges the health claims of Activia,a probiotic yogurt.Dannon claims Activia can help regulate your digestive system.

Now lawyers have filed a class-action lawsuit against yogurt maker Dannon, one of the biggest sellers of probiotic yogurts, saying the claims of a health benefit dupe consumers. The companys Activia and DanActive line of yogurt products contain live bacteria and claim to help regulate digestion and boost the immune system. The suit, filed in United States District Court in California, seeks redress for consumers who purchased the yogurt products based on what it says are bogus claims.'

Deceptive advertising has enabled Dannon to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ordinary yogurt at inflated prices to responsible, health- conscious consumers, said Los Angeles attorney Timothy G. Blood, of the firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins.

In response, Dannon issued a statement saying it stands by the claims of its products and the clinical studies which support them.'


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## Miss Vickie (Jan 25, 2008)

Should this go in the health section? Just curious...

I'm a big believer in probiotics but I'm really suspicious of how many actual live cultures there are in the garden variety yogurt out there. I know a while back they did a study and there was precious little, so for my probiotics I buy the good kind at the health food store. I pick ones with lots of different strains of bacteria and I make sure and store them as recommended on the label.

I don't know about "boosting immune function" but they've helped in the face of yeast infections, stomach viruses or food poisoning and just feeling like I have an "urpy stomach". I'm definitely a believer but if I wanted it in a food product, I'd pick kefir, not yogurt.


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## HottiMegan (Jan 25, 2008)

I have never thought about even trying a product like this. If you eat enough fiber and veggies, your digestive system is PLENTY regulated 

Not sure how a lawsuit will do anything though...


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## SoVerySoft (Jan 25, 2008)

Yup, it should go in the health forum


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## Elfcat (Jan 25, 2008)

An advocate of raw milk on the radio claimed that when salmonella or e. coli are injected into raw milk, its resident bacteria crowd them out and prevent them from reproducing. Not sure if I believe this, but I do resent moves to outlaw the product.


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## Miss Vickie (Jan 25, 2008)

HottiMegan said:


> I have never thought about even trying a product like this. If you eat enough fiber and veggies, your digestive system is PLENTY regulated
> 
> Not sure how a lawsuit will do anything though...




Megan I wish this was always true but sometimes people are on medications that slow things down. But you're right -- fiber and veggies (and lots of water!) are great places to start.


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## Tina (Jan 26, 2008)

Strawberry smoothie kefir... Peaches and cream kefir... pomegranate kefir... Yum. :eat2:


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## moore2me (Jan 26, 2008)

Elfcat said:


> An advocate of raw milk on the radio claimed that when salmonella or e. coli are injected into raw milk, its resident bacteria crowd them out and prevent them from reproducing. Not sure if I believe this, but I do resent moves to outlaw the product.



*Regardless of what you heard on the radio, drinking raw milk or eating products (uncooked) made from raw milk is dangerous.* Don't be fooled by claims of the benefits of raw milk. Just this month, consumers in Washington State were sickened by drinking raw milk. And as to forced regulation, since many of our milk drinking population are babies and children, the government is looking to protect this fragile population group who suffer the most if one or more of the bacteria listed below cause a subsequent disease.

*Pasteurization is essential to destroy the bacteria or viruses that can accidentally contaminate milk. Raw milk has been found to contain the following bacteria and the milk has caused sickness in humans consuming the milk. *

Salmonella

Campylobacter

E. coli

Listeria

Yersinia (yes, this is the plague!)

Q fever

Tuberculosis
*And this virus has been transmitted in raw milk from cows to humans.*

Rabies

The following is quoted from the CDCs report on 11/9/2007
*Salmonella Typhimurium Infection Associated with Raw Milk and Cheese Consumption --- Pennsylvania, 2007*

During 1998--2005, a total of 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported to CDC in which unpasteurized milk (or cheese suspected to have been made from unpasteurized milk) was implicated. *These outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths. Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with unpasteurized milk likely is greater.*

Pathogens that infect humans are shed in the feces of cows, can be present in or on the udders of cows, and can contaminate their milk. Standard hygiene practices during milking can reduce but not eliminate the risk for milk contamination. In a 2001--2002 survey of Pennsylvania dairy farms, pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella, were isolated from 13% of samples from raw-milk bulk tanks . Pasteurization decreases the number of pathogenic organisms, prevents transmission of pathogens, and has been determined to improve the safety of milk more than other measures, including certification of raw milk.

Given the continued interest in raw-milk production, policymakers, parents, and the public need to be informed regarding the potential health risks posed by raw-milk consumption. *The only sure way for consumers to prevent raw-milk--associated infection from Salmonella or other pathogens is to refrain from consuming raw milk. *

From the CDC www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5644a3.htm

If you want to read more on the health hazards of raw milk (or raw milk products) here are more links:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/rawmilk.html
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/milk/a/0807_raw_milk.htm
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/raw-milk/


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Jan 26, 2008)

I've had digestion problems forever. Probiotics help me immensly. It stops the gas and bloating and pain. JMO


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## GWARrior (Jan 27, 2008)

hey, did you all know that milk is just a highly refined and evolved form of sweat? YUMMY!!!!!


i love my physiology class!


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## stefanie (Jan 29, 2008)

I took pro-biotic capsules (as well as eating yogurt with live cultures) while taking antibiotics, and it really helped with some of the more unpleasant antibiotic side effects. There is also a kind of intestinal infection you can get as a side effect of antibiotic use (Clostridium difficile) which in itself can put you in the hospital. Some claim that probiotics can help prevent a C. difficile infection while you're on antibiotics.

Yogurt, kefir, buttermilk - they're all good, if you like the taste.


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## TearInYourHand (Feb 3, 2008)

GWARrior said:


> hey, did you all know that milk is just a highly refined and evolved form of sweat? YUMMY!!!!!
> 
> 
> i love my physiology class!



Meaning that they both come out of glands? You could say the same thing for sebum (skin oil), pancreatic digestive enzymes....etc....basically anything that comes out of a gland in the body.

And...that doesn't really make sense....how are two things coming out of glands in my body (milk and sweat) at different stages of evolution?

I love my physiology class, too!


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## GWARrior (Feb 4, 2008)

TearInYourHand said:


> Meaning that they both come out of glands? You could say the same thing for sebum (skin oil), pancreatic digestive enzymes....etc....basically anything that comes out of a gland in the body.
> 
> And...that doesn't really make sense....how are two things coming out of glands in my body (milk and sweat) at different stages of evolution?
> 
> I love my physiology class, too!



well excuuuuse me. i was just saying what Id learned in class.

milk is sweat.


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 4, 2008)

GWARrior said:


> well excuuuuse me. i was just saying what Id learned in class.
> 
> milk is sweat.



Not.... exactly.

Milk is made in response to a complicated cascade of hormones that occurs under specialized circumstances (like... oh... birth). It is a process that takes months to develop, in several stages, which culminates in various kinds of milk created for various situations. Colostrum is the first milk a woman makes, high in antibodies, extremely nutritionally dense, easily absorbable. Milk changes as the baby's needs changes and in fact the milk a mom makes for a premie would be of different nutritional make-up than the milk she would make for a full term infant.

Sweat (or perspiration) is created by certain glands in the body under very non-specialized circumstances. We sweat when we're hot, nervous, sick, etc. It's mediated by the body's need to rid itself of toxins and heat, and the hormones that encourage the body to sweat are fairly simple in their make-up and predictable in how they work. I could get into the whole brain stem thing and talk about temperature regulation but that's way too long winded for this place. But suffice to say that sweating is a lot simpler than making milk; it has to be.

Thank goodness it doesn't take many months for our bodies to work up a good sweat. We'd DIE. OTOH I suppose if babies could survive on sweat, we wouldn't have so many starving babies in the world.


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## GWARrior (Feb 4, 2008)

Exactly? No. I never claimed to be exact.

Mammary glands are modified sweat glands. 

Am I a sience nut? Hardly. So you can wave your scientific findings around all you like and I wont really understand it.


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 4, 2008)

GWARrior said:


> Exactly? No. I never claimed to be exact.
> 
> Mammary glands are modified sweat glands.
> 
> Am I a sience nut? Hardly.



Oh gosh, I hope I didn't talk over your head. I was just, in my own geeky way, trying to show you how they're more different than alike. And yeah, mammary glands are modified sweat glands. But saying milk and sweat are the same is like saying that tears and sweat are the same. Each is very different, but I appreciate you talking about how alike they are, since I usually focus on the differences.


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## GWARrior (Feb 4, 2008)

Miss Vickie said:


> Oh gosh, I hope I didn't talk over your head. I was just, in my own geeky way, trying to show you how they're more different than alike. And yeah, mammary glands are modified sweat glands. But saying milk and sweat are the same is like saying that tears and sweat are the same. Each is very different, but I appreciate you talking about how alike they are, since I usually focus on the differences.



Over my head, yes. But like I said, the sciences are not my forte. And whenever Im posting on this board, Im usually just repeating what my teacher has said.


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 4, 2008)

Aw, sorry I went over your head. I try really hard not to talk over people's heads because to me teaching people about their bodies is fun.

I think that even if science isn't your forte, your obvious interest and enthusiasm is palpable and contagious. You must have a great teacher.


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## GWARrior (Feb 4, 2008)

Miss Vickie said:


> Aw, sorry I went over your head. I try really hard not to talk over people's heads because to me teaching people about their bodies is fun.
> 
> I think that even if science isn't your forte, your obvious interest and enthusiasm is palpable and contagious. You must have a great teacher.



i love learning about my body 

Im only in this physiology class because its required for my Animal Care certificate. And since my school doesnt have any animal science... its human biology/anatomy/physiology for me.

But I guess its been kinda fun. I can relate everything we've talked about to some aspect of my life. My diabetic ex, my boss's sick beagle (sounds like he has Cushings  ), my friend who constantly tans...

hooray for science!


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