-

-

Near the end of this article is a study published last year that showed promising results with the use of probiotics to help kids defend themselves against colds and flus. This was a rather small study with a little over 200 kids between the ages of 3-5, but the percentage of improvement in the group of kids that took probiotics vs. the kids that did not is substantial.

In addition to this study, there has been quite a bit of research done on probiotics. Probiotics are the good bacteria found within our bodies. It helps us to break down foods, and it helps to keep other things from moving in such as yeast, fungus, and bacteria.

Think of our body as your back yard. If grass is health and growing over a certain area of dirt, not too many weeds grow. If you kill the grass and don’t plant anything, chances are weeds will grow in its place. When we don’t eat an ideal diet, drink chlorinated water, and use antibiotics, we ‘kill off’ some of our good bacteria. This allows other stuff to move in. This is why it is common for some people to get yeast infections after antibiotic use.

So, it’s probably a good idea to consider taking probiotics on a regular basis, and especially during the cold and flu season and especially after being on an antibiotic.

There are several ways to increase the concentration probiotics in your body. The simplest is to take a supplement. They come in capsules, powder, liquid, and chewable forms. Powders can be added to any room temperature or colder food or liquid. Applesauce seems to work best. Probiotics are also found in some foods like yogurt and kefir. Another way is to consume adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables and whole grain fiber, since this is what helps feed these good bacteria (fiber is like fertilizer to the grass in the example above).

-

-

Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children.
Leyer GJ, Li S, Mubasher ME, Reifer C, Ouwehand AC.
Department of Research and Development, Danisco, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. greg.leyer@danisco.com

Pediatrics. 2009 Aug;124(2):e172-9. Epub 2009 Jul 27

Objective: Test effectiveness of single and combination probiotics on healthy
children ages 3-5 during the winter season.

Conclusion: Daily dietary probiotic supplementation for 6 months was a safe
effective way to reduce fever, rhinorrhea, and cough incidence and duration
and antibiotic prescription incidence, as well as the number of missed school
days attributable to illness, for children 3 to 5 years of age.

Fever 72.70%
Coughing 62.10%
Rhinorrhea 58.80%
Antibiotic Use 84.20%
Duration of Symptoms 48.00%
Days Absent from Group Child Care 27.70%

*** the percentages listed are the reduction in that particular category for those taking probiotics vs. those not taking any. For example, antibiotic use was reduced by 84.20% in the group of kids that took the probiotics. I like those odds!