Natural cold remedy: Probiotics shown to combat respiratory infections

Are you in the market for a reliable way to help prevent catching a cold?

If you answered, 'Sign me up!' I would first suggest you take a look at the e-alert 'How to prepare yourself for the change of seasons' (20/9/05), in which that old standby cold-fighter vitamin C was shown (once again) to be effective in reducing the frequency of the common cold.

But first we'll look at another preventive against respiratory tract infections. It's a little off the beaten track compared to vitamin C, but it works hand-in-hand with C supplements.

Your own personal ecosystem
In previous e-alerts I've told you about the importance of probiotic organisms.

In a healthy individual, these beneficial bacteria inhabit the digestive tract in massive numbers, crowding out harmful bacteria, aiding digestion, and supporting immune function. This healthy 'gut flora' produces valuable nutrients (including certain B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids), digestive enzymes like lactase, and immune chemicals that fight harmful bacteria and even cancer cells.

But this critical ecosystem is fragile and easily disturbed. For instance, some types of antibiotics can completely kill off the beneficial bacteria in the gut. Steroid drugs like cortisone and prednisone, as well as birth control pills and chemotherapy can also upset your gut flora. In addition, poor nutrition or digestion can impair the efficiency of intestinal bacteria, as can stress, trauma, surgery, or parasitic infestation.

When the number or activity level of your good bacteria drops too low, it opens the door for harmful bacteria to proliferate, allowing the opportunity for diseases to develop.

Probiotics fight respiratory tract infections
So - could a probiotic supplement help prevent the common cold?

Researchers at the Institute for Physiology and Biochemistry of Nutrition (IPBN) in Kiel, Germany, designed a trial to test the cold-fighting effectiveness of a probiotic bacteria supplement, combined with supplements of vitamins and minerals in doses similar to those found in typical multivitamins. More than 475 healthy men and women who had not received flu vaccines were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or the probiotic and vitamin/mineral combo (to keep things simple, we'll call it PVM).

Subjects received their doses every day for five and a half months during the winter and spring, and each subject reported any symptoms of respiratory infection. Researchers also monitored cellular immune response in 60 subjects from each group before and after the intervention period.

The IPBN team published the results in the July 2005 issue of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. They found that respiratory tract infections were reduced by more than 13 percent in the PVM group compared to placebo.

Among those who developed respiratory infections:

* Symptoms were generally reduced by 19 percent in the PVM group compared to placebo
* Influenza symptoms were reduced by 25 percent
* Number of days with a fever was reduced by more than 50 percent

Immune response tests showed a 'significantly higher' response in the PVM group, especially during the first 14 days of supplementation.

Looking after your gut flora
Sufficient amounts of intestinal flora can be maintained through dietary sources such as cultured products (like yoghurt and kefir), and lignans (like flaxseed, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, millet and buckwheat). But while the digestive tract can be 're-colonised' by introducing enough good bacteria to overpower the bad bacteria, dietary sources alone can't provide organisms in the vast numbers required to correct an imbalance. For this, a high-potency probiotic nutritional supplement is necessary.

Unfortunately, most probiotic supplements are ineffective. In one trial, researchers sampled three-dozen probiotic products bought at random from health food shops. Fewer than one in five of the products sampled delivered the number of viable organisms guaranteed on the labels, and several brands fell short by 90 percent or more. One brand even contained harmful bacteria.

A supplement manufacturer has developed an air- and moisture-proof manufacturing technology that allowed them to produce a potent new strain of good bacteria without compromising its viability or potency. The strain is called Lactobacillus G.G., and the supplement that contains it is Culturelle. When refrigerated, Culturelle is guaranteed to provide an astonishing 30 billion live microorganisms per capsule, even after six months of storage. It has also been shown to be completely free of competing strains or harmful contamination.

Culturelle is available from various sources online.