Special to the News: Friendly Bacteria Necessary to Our Lives

Dear Dr. Meinig:

From time to time you have recommended lactobacillus acidophilus supplements and yogurt that contains these bacteria. It seems to me that freezing would kill the bacteria. Would you comment about that and why we should need such bacteria?  – C.R.

 

Dear C.R:

It seems very plausible that bacteria present in food that is frozen would be killed by the low temperature. Actually, lactobacillus acidophilus are not killed but they do become dormant, that is, inactive. When ingested into the stomach and intestines, they become reactivated.

Of even more interest along these lines is that a number of foods and many acidophilus products are now produced by freeze-drying.

Since the time and work of Pasteur, we have become so imbued with the harmful diseases caused by bacteria, it is difficult to realize that there are numbers of friendly bacteria that are very necessary to our lives.

Billions of these friendly bacteria live in our intestinal tract Here they synthesize a number of important vitamins such as vitamin K and some of the B family. Vitamin K is an important factor in our blood clotting mechanism, miscarriages, nosebleeds, etc. We also depend on friendly bacteria to help maintain our acid-base balance, aid digestion, inhibit other toxic organisms particularly fungi, reduce cholesterol, produce natural antibiotics, and some strains of them retard cancer cell growth.

Dr. Kem Shahni, professor of food science at the University of Nebraska, during the past 30 years, has researched this subject and published over 130 scientific articles about it. He has recommended that the best results occur when a mixture of lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus bifidus, and streptococcus faecium are used as a supplement. Yes, this streptococcus is a friendly one. He has found that a mixture of more than one micro organism provides a complementing effect. There are quite a few other friendly bacteria than the three mentioned above.

While bad breath problems are known to be in part derived from insufficient digestive action, it has not been recognized that low levels of lactobacillus in the intestines and colon can be a contributing factor.

Dairy products are usually thought to be a good source of lactobacillus, especially yogurt and kefir. However, these bacteria are killed at 120 degree temperatures. The pasteurization of dairy products today, carried out at 145 degrees to 165 degrees temperatures, diminishes some of their effectiveness.

In spite of the fact that lactobacilli remain dormant during freezing and in the dry form in powders and tablets, Doctors S.E. Gilliland and M.L. Speck showed that their numbers decreased during refrigeration and storage. They found the reason to be involved with the fact that when bacillus bulgaricus was present, it produced hydrogen peroxide and that this substance killed off some of the culture.

It is a good idea for anyone on antibiotics to take yogurt but it would be better to also supplement with additional lactobacillus capsules, tablets or powder. This proves more successful in restoring the normal bacteria killed off by the antibiotics if they are taken midway between the prescription time.

A serious key illness that has resulted from the extensive use of antibiotics and steroids is Candida Albicans, an infection produced by fungi. AIDS victims almost universally also suffer from Candida. A key supportive treatment to help control fungus infections are these friendly lactobacillus bacteria.