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'Friendly' Bacteria Can Benefit Health Throughout the Lifecycle

Monday, October 6, 2008 General News
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 New research on the benefits ofprobiotics in children and seniors was presented at The American College ofNutrition (ACN) Annual Meeting in a symposium, "Practical Applications ofProbiotics in Health and Disease." Scientific experts in the fields ofpediatrics, aging, and nutrition discussed the potential uses for probioticsin children as well as the elderly, and for health conditions such asInflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
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Probiotics are used worldwide and in the US they are one of the mostrapidly growing categories of functional food. Probiotics are living"friendly" bacteria, like those in certain active-culture dairy drinks thatcan provide health benefits. Evidence is showing that specific strains ofprobiotics can improve digestive health and enhance immune function whenconsumed regularly.
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Dr. Allan Walker, Professor of Nutrition and Pediatrics at Harvard MedicalSchool, led a world class panel of speakers in summarizing the role ofprobiotics in pediatrics. "Infants don't have all of their gut bacteria atbirth as they acquire it up until about 2 years of age. Probiotics are 'good'bacteria, which can promote healthy colonization of bacteria in the gut duringthis time, leading to enhanced immunity," said Walker.

Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders, a consultant specializing in probiotics, providedan overview of the studies showing the benefits of probiotics and health. Shesaid, "compelling new studies are showing how probiotics can help keep healthypeople healthy. One study showed a decreased incidence of common infectiousdiseases among kids in day care." She stressed the fact that each individualstrain of probiotic can act differently, so a probiotic that helps withdigestion may be different from one that supports the immune system.

Dr. Stefano Guandalini, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of theUniversity of Chicago Celiac Disease Center shared the newest research onprobiotics and inflammatory bowel disease. "Inflammatory bowel disease is acondition that affects approximately 1 million adults and 150,000 children inthe US. Emerging studies are showing promise in children and will continue tohelp determine how we can be using probiotics practically for such seriousconditions."

About 70 percent of our body's immune system is located in the digestivetract and as we age, our immune function weakens. Dr. Simin Meydani, AssociateDirector of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging atTufts University presented cutting-edge data, which helps in answering thequestion, could probiotics help the elderly? "The idea is that taking incertain probiotics on a regular basis might positively change the bacterialpopulations in the gut in older people," she said.

Under normal circumstances in our gastrointestinal systems, there are manymore "friendly" bacteria than "bad" bacteria. If this balance shifts,however, the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract may be affected.Research suggests that adding probiotics to the diet can help optimize thefunctioning of the intestinal lining, as well as, the immune system. The roleof probiotics in health may be greater than what we once thought.

A Webcast of the symposium will be made available athttp://nutrition.med.harvard.edu, www.usprobiotics.org, andwww.americancollegeofnutrition.org.

Dannon and Yakult Continue to Advocate and Lead Probiotic Research andEducation

In March 2004, Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. and Groupe Danone, the parentcompany of The Dannon Company, jointly established the Global ProbioticsCouncil. The role of the GPC is to promote and advance probiotics in the worldby raising public awareness through education, communicating the latestknowledge to relevant interest groups, and supporting collaborative researchin the areas of probiotics and intestinal flora.

The Dannon Company is America's founding national yogurt company andcontinually leverages its expertise to develop and market innovative culturedfresh dairy products in the United States. Headquartered in White Plains, NY,Dannon has plants in Minster, OH, Fort Worth, TX, and West Jordan, UT. Thecompany produces and sells approximately 100 different types of flavors,styles and sizes of cultured fresh dairy products. Dannon is owned by GroupeDanone, one of the world's leading producers of packaged foods and beverages,and Dannon is the top-selling brand of yogurt products worldwide, sold underthe names Dannon and Danone. With a strong commitment to high-quality,wholesome, nutritious and innovative products, The Dannon Company is committedto encouraging healthy eating and living. This commitment is also illustratedthrough The Dannon Company's support of the Dannon Institute, an independent,non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting research, education, andcommunication about the links between nutrition, diet and health. For moreinformation, please visit www.dannon.com.

For more information on probiotics, visit www.probioticscenter.com.

Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is the world'spioneer in probiotics by introducing the first single shot probiotics drink,Yakult(R), in 1935. Founded by microbiologist Dr. Minoru Shirota, Yakult(R)contains high amounts of its signature strain, Lactobacillus casei Shirota.Yakult is committed to researching the endless applications for probiotics andthe use of intestinal bacteria in human health around the world. The companyhas established two science institutes to support its efforts; one in Japan(Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research) and one in Europe(Yakult Honsha European Research Center for Microbiology ESV). Sincedeveloping its overseas network in 1964, Yakult has expanded its business to31 countries and territories. In addition to producing the internationallyrecognized probiotic beverage, Yakult is also accredited in the pharmaceuticalfield for its development of Campto Injection (Camptosar), the first-line drugfor colorectal cancer in the U.S. Yakult U.S.A. Inc., the subsidiary of YakultHonsha Co., Ltd., is stationed in Torrance, CA. For more information, pleasevisit www.yakult.co.jp/english, www.yakult.co.jp/institute, www.yakultusa.com.

SOURCE The Dannon Company
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