Lactic Acid Bacteria And Health

The claims made for yogurt vary from brand to brand but they all promise a healthy life. Should you, therefore, take yogurt for this reason?

"No scientist still believes that eating yogurt makes you live longer, but the idea hasn't faded entirely. A few years ago, (one manufacturer) filmed a tongue-in-cheek commercial on location in Soviet Georgia. The ad showed a spry 87-year-old eating (yogurt), his mother beaming approval. And the idea lives on, in a way, in (the US) National Yogurt Association brochures and press re¬leases, in which there's heavy hinting of vital, if not mi¬raculous, results," said the editors of Consumer Reports.

Yogurt’s appeal lies in the friendly bacteria it carries which advertisers have endowed with special - if not magical - properties. These bacteria like Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. acidophilus or Streptococcus thermophilus transform the natural sugar in milk to lactic acid, thicken¬ing the yogurt and giving it a sour taste. The process by which milk is converted to yogurt is called fermenta¬tion.

Lactic acid bacteria such as the ones mentioned above are among the many micro¬organisms that inhabit the human intestine. Dr. Tomo-tori Mitsuoka, professor of biomedical science at the University of Tokyo, said the intestine harbors about 100 trillion bacteria that com¬prise as many as 100 species. These bacteria along with other microbes are part of the normal intestinal flora.

“The staggering magnitude of (microorganisms in the intestine) can be sensed vividly if one considers that the entire number of cells constituting the human body is estimated to be about 60 trillion...If the entire intes¬tinal bacterial population of (a person) were arranged in a single row, the length of the row would amount to about 100,000 kilometers. Since the circumference of the earth is approximately 40,000 kilometers, this row of bacteria could encircle the earth two and a half times," Mitsuoka said in “A Profile of Intestinal Bacteria.”

Normally, these bacteria are harmless and we are not even aware of them. Lactic acid bacteria like Lacto¬bacillus addoprdlus and Lactobacillus casei also help maintain the normal bacterial balance in the intestine and aid in the digestion of food.

The problem begins when a disease-causing bacte¬ria from food or air enters and grows within the body. If these pathogenic bacteria are not suppressed by the bodies defenses, they multiply and release poisonous toxins that eventually make us sick.

If the body's resis¬tance is lowered due to fatigue, overwork, or other reasons, we become even more susceptible to the harm¬ful effects of pathogenic bacteria. Or other organisms that are normally present in the body may multiply and cause trouble the same way invading bacteria from the outside do. Either way, the balance of intestinal flora is upset, causing serious infections.

Since yogurt contains beneficial lactic acid bacteria, does it confer any possible health benefits? Will com¬mercial products protect us from disease just like nor¬mal intestinal microbes?

Bulgarians are said to have long lives because of yogurt and presumably the lactic acid bacteria theyningest from this food. But no scientific evidence is offered to support this claim. Most reports of long-lived inhabitants of a certain region are anecdotal; there are no medical records or birth certificates to prove this. Even worse, many such tales are fabricated to attract tourists.

What about the other claims made for yogurt? Do they have any scientific basis or are they just a marketing gimmick? Find out in the third part of this series.

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