The benefits of certain lactic acid cultures for humans were suggested as far back as the early 1900s. In 1908, Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff observed that Bulgarians lived significantly longer than other people at that time. He suggested that their regular consumption of milk fermented with lactic acid cultures contributed to their better health and longer lives. Since these first observations, many clinical trials have substantiated the health benefits of lactic acid cultures. The term "probiotics," which means "for life," was first used in 1974 to describe naturally occurring microorganisms that could be beneficial to health when regularly consumed.

The human digestive tract contains a delicate balance of beneficial and potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Under certain conditions, such as stress, traveling and antibiotic treatment, this natural balance is disrupted and the number of pathogens increase while the number of beneficial organisms decrease, resulting in digestive upset or diarrhea. Researchers theorize that the naturally occurring bacteria in probiotics work by inhibiting or controlling intestinal pathogens through bacteriocin and organic acid production, and competition for nutrients.

The health benefits of probiotics are increasingly recognized among researchers, physicians and consumers. These well-documented benefits include:

• Lactose tolerance
• Diarrhea prevention
• Constipation treatment
• Yeast infection prevention
• Less digestive upsets after antibiotic treatment

Other promising areas include cholesterol reduction, immune enhancement and cancer suppression.

Two genera of beneficial bacteria, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, generally are recognized as probiotics.

However, not all probiotics are the same. Products can differ in strain origin, purity, viability, stability, consistency and clinical documentation, all of which influences product performance.

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