8 Suprising Reasons to Love Bacteria

Here are 8 reasons to love probiotic bacteria:

Urinary Tract Infections
New research in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that two probiotics are almost as effective as antibiotics at eliminating urinary tract infections from the body.  The probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri taken twice daily on an empty stomach for a year caused a 51.4% drop in harmful E. coli bacteria linked to urinary tract infections.  And, unlike the antibiotics, there are no harmful side-effects of taking the probiotics.

Antibiotic Resistance
The same study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that bacteria became largely resistant to the antibiotics trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin within only one month.  E. coli was between 20-40% resistant to the antibiotics at the beginning of the study but within one month they were 80-95% resistant.  That means:  the antibiotics were no longer useful.  By contrast, resistance to these antibiotics did not occur during probiotic treatment.


Yeast Infections
In a recent study published in Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers found that within four weeks of supplementing with the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri, women were 90% symptom-free from vaginal yeast infections.  When tested, 90% of the women also showed no yeast infection at the end of the study.

Strep Infections
Research published in the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry found that Lactobacillus rhamnosus-containing milk caused a significant drop in the mutans streptococci count.  This is important since strep infections are linked with many serious health conditions.

AIDS and HIV
Research in the journal Daru:  Journal of Faculty of Pharmacy found that various Lactobacilli bacteria could inhibit the HIV virus when used vaginally.  Research of probiotics against the HIV virus or in the treatment of AIDS is still in its infancy but this exciting research suggests promise for this purpose.

Infant Eczema
Research published in the journal BMC Microbiology found that deviations in bowel flora are linked to eczema in infants.  They also found that supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus offered minor but long-term beneficial effects.

Alcoholic Liver Disease
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus could help restore the altered microbial flora found in people with alcohol liver disease.

Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome
Research published in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications found that supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus could improve insulin sensitivity.  Insulin sensitivity is a serious issue for those suffering from metabolic syndrome and diabetes, meaning that probiotic supplementation could play a promising therapeutic role in the management or treatment of these illnesses.