July 3, 2009

Studies: probiotics can reduce food allergies

I was out to dinner with a friend the other day who told
me she developed an allergy to shellfish.  She said her
doctor talked "above her" and asked me to explain in
"regular words" what it was all about.

Here's what I told her.

Since 1 out of 3 people in the US report having some kind
of food allergy or intolerance, it's a pretty common problem.

Simply put, food allergies are when your immune system
sees a harmless substance as a dangerous pathogen or
invader.  As a result, your body reacts by releasing the
hormone histamine.  This causes itchy skin or swelling in
the lips, mouth, tongue and throat. 

Other allergic reactions can include a runny nose,
shortness of breath, hives, flushing, dizziness, vomiting
or diarrhea.

A much less common--but far more dangerous--reaction is
anaphylaxis.  This is when your body releases a HUGE amount
of histamine after an "offending" food is eaten.  It causes
blood vessels to dilate, blood pressure to drop and body
tissues to swell.  If there is too much swelling in the
nose and throat, the air supply can be cut off and death
can result.

People at risk for anaphylaxis are advised to carry a
device that allows them to quickly inject themselves with
adrenaline to reverse the life-threatening reaction.

Most food allergies fall into these categories:

Milk
Eggs
Wheat
Soy
Peanuts
Nuts that grow on trees (almonds, cashews, pecans, etc.)
Fish
Shellfish

Food allergies are typically treated by avoidance--find
out what bothers you and stay away from it. 

But this means that people (like my friend) have to go
without foods they love.  Plus there's always the threat
that the offending food might unknowingly or accidentally
be eaten.  This happens to people all the time.

A better way to treat food allergies is emerging.

Research has shown that probiotic supplements can
significantly reduce allergic reactions to foods. 

One study was conducted at Seoul National University in
South Korea and published in 2005 in the Federation of
European Microbiological Societies' Immunology and Medical
Microbiology journal. 

The researchers tested two groups of mice that were
allergic to egg white.  Half of the mice were given
Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus casei every day
for 5 weeks and the other half received none.  

After the 5 weeks, all of the mice were given egg white.
Those treated with the probiotics had significantly less
allergic reactions, measured by how much histamine they
produced. 

Human trials have also been conducted that show great
promise. 

In one of the studies published in the Journal of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology, researchers from Finland studied
27 babies who were allergic to cow's milk.  For one month,
cow's milk was removed from their diets and 13 of them were
given Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.  The other 14 were given
no probiotics.

After one month, all of the babies were given cow's milk
again.  Those who had the L. rhamnosus GG showed
significantly less reactions to the milk than the babies
who received no probiotics.

This is great news for food allergy sufferers...and it's
one of the reasons that we included Bifidobacterium bifidum
Malyoth (a super strain), Lactobacillus casei Shirota
(another super strain) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
(another super strain) in our Super Shield formula.

Each and every bacteria in Super Shield was carefully
considered and hand-picked for potency and effectiveness in
benefitting the body in a variety of ways. 

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