Probiotics? Don’t forget the milk

By 21. July 2015Blog, Health

We’ve all heard that probiotics are good for us. Although taking them does not have quite the effect some of the adverts would have us believe, they do have a beneficial effect on our gut.

But surprising, there is not a lot of research out there testing what is the best matrix to deliver the probiotics in, i.e., milk or a capsule form. Researchers from California investigated this by giving mice different strains of L.casei in milk or Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) to simulate pill form with control mice being given acidified milk or PBS. They then induced inflammation of the lining of the colons in the mice.

They found that the mice fed the L.casei in milk had the least severity of diarrhea and weight loss compared to those fed L.casei in PBS or the controls.  The acidified milk control offered some protection  but not as much as L.casei in milk. Surprising  L.casei in PBS offered little protection.

The take home message? Don’t go for the pill form of probiotics, have a yogurt. Or as they cautiously put it “probiotic strain efficacy can be influenced by the food/supplement delivery matrix”, indeed.

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