Probiotic Yoghurt helps gut to break down carbohydrates

By Rajan | Monday, October 31st, 2011
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Researchers revealed that a probiotic yoghurt help the body in breaking down of carbohydrates, therefore everyone after gulping a pizza want to finish with probiotic yoghurt. The research team from Washington University School of Medicine hunted to see the impact of any live bacteria in any yoghurt on digestion.

They carried out studies on mice and analogous female twins those using probiotic yoghurt containing five strains of live bacteria. The studies showed that eating yoghurt two times a day for seven weeks did not change the mix of bacteria in the intestines of mice as well as female subjects.

But when they closely examined the mice they found significant alterations in some of bacterial enzyme occupied in metabolizing carbohydrates. They also found some key changes in seven pairs of twins in the highly controlled laboratory conditions. Human gut contains millions of bacteria, which are collectively known as the microbiota.

The intricate system functions to break down several nutrients, which human body could not otherwise digest, prevents the growth of damaging microbes, generate nutrients like biotin, vitamin K and hormones those inform human body when to store the fat. The study findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.

According to lead author Dr Jeffrey Gordon, carbohydrates are significant part of human diet, and the way they are broken down by gut bacteria is an important part of digestive health. Numerous carbohydrates are quite intricate and can only be digested by enzymes made by gut bacteria.

They found that when the mice were given the bacterial strains found in the yogurt, at doses comparable to those consumed by humans, they could more efficiently break down certain classes of carbohydrates. The study helps researcher to analyze the many health claims made by makers of probiotic yoghurts and this is evidence of principle, stated Dr Gordon.

He added that they have developed an approach to test the health effects of probiotics, which centers on how those microbes influence the dynamic operations of our gut microbial communities. Their long-term ambition was to develop methods to improve the nutritional value of the foods people eat.

source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health


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