What is pro biotic milk?

Answer 1

Probiotics are dietary supplements of live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host". Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most common types of microbes used as probiotics; but also certain yeasts and bacilli are available.

At first, probiotics were thought to beneficially affect the host by improving its intestinal microbial balance, thus inhibiting pathogens and toxin producing bacteria. Today specific health effects are being investigated and documented including alleviation of chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases, prevention and treatment of pathogen-induced diarrhea, urogenital infections, and atopic diseases.

There is no published evidence that probiotic supplements are able to completely replace the body's natural flora when these have been killed off; indeed bacterial levels in feces disappear within days when supplementation ceases.While the oral use of probiotics is considered safe and even recommended by World Health Organization under specific guidelines, in some specific situations (such as critically ill patients) they could be potentially harmful. In a therapeutic clinical trial conducted by M. Besselink and colleagues in The Netherlands, the consumption of a cocktail containing genetically modified strains of probiotic bacteria, increased the Death Rate of patients with acute pancreatitis. Probiotics have been shown to be beneficial for other types of patients.

In a clinical trial conducted at the University of Western Australia, aimed at showing the effectiveness of probiotics in reducting childhood allergies, Dr Susan Prescott and her colleagues gave 178 children either a probiotic or a placebo for the first six months of their life, those given the good bacteria were more, not less, likely to develop a sensitivity to allergens.

Some hospitals have reported treating lactobacillus septicaemia which is a potentially fatal disease caused by the consumption of probiotics by people with lowered immune systems or who are already very ill.