The IPA World Congress + Probiota Americas 2019 brings together top experts to share insights on scientific and market aspects of the synbiotic field. Probiota Americas is the leading annual event for the prebiotic, probiotic and the microbiota-focused food and pharma industries in the Americas, brought to you by NutraIngredients-USA. This year the city of Vancouver in Canada will host this important conference … Read More
Is the Key to Happiness in Our Microbes?
Imagine if microbes could make you smile. Plenty of new research suggests that unhappiness, at least in the guise of depression and anxiety, may stem from the gut-brain axis and what transpires along the route. A new paper describes the many challenges inherent in the intricate science and suggests a way forward. Gregor Reid of Lawson Health Research Institute in Canada laid … Read More
Big Money Pours into Microbiome Research
Money talks and we listen. Since the year 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (over 50 billion USD in assets) has poured billions into tackling the world’s most pressing health problems such as malaria and infectious disease. Now the philanthropists are embracing gut microbes. Like most of us in the probiotic industry, Bill and Melinda Gates believe in the promise of probiotics. In a blog on … Read More
New Paper Takes on Probiotic Swipes
Are Probiotics Money Down the Toilet? Or Worse? Albeit with a provocative title destined to be click-bait, this January 2019 article in Journal of American Medical Association looks seriously at the science. It dissects the two recent studies from Israel which raised questions about probiotic use. Author Jennifer Abbasi does a good job of teasing out implications of the work published in the journal Cell last … Read More
FDA Cracks Down on Supplements
As those in the probiotic supplement industry know, business is booming. Likewise, dietary supplements in general have grown from 4,000 products just 25 years ago to about 80,000 today. These sheer numbers in addition to uncovered shenanigans—ginkgo-free gingko supplements in one example—has led the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to announce strengthened regulation. On February 11, FDA Commissioner … Read More
Iron Supplements Can Mess with Microbes
Iron is the go-to treatment for anemia. Troubling though is the dysbiosis it can cause. Iron favors strains of pathogenic species over more healthful ones. In the genital tract, for instance, Gardnerella vaginalis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida albicans require iron for adhesion. Most lactobacilli, which maintain a healthy vaginal ecosystem, do not. And in another example with 115 randomized Kenyan infants, … Read More
Healthy Baby Microbes Shut Down Food Allergy
Frequent fliers know that peanuts are often forbidden in flight–an allergic reaction to foods such as peanuts can be fatal. Other common allergens in the food category include cow’s milk, eggs, soy, wheat, and tree nuts. And if it seems like their incidence is increasing, it’s not just your internet exposure: The prevalence of food allergy in those less than … Read More
Sweet: Mother’s Microbes Shape Breastmilk Sugars
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are sugar molecules found only in breast milk—not in formula and certainly not in milk from other animals. A newborn can’t digest HMOs. However, certain species in his microbiome can and in the process change the composition of said microbiome. Because of this effect, researchers are looking at HMOs to see if they are the mitigating factors … Read More
Breastfeeding Impacts Microbes in Late Infancy
Breast is best when feeding infants. Experts agree that with its curated blend of amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins, and a trove of other nutritional factors, human milk far surpasses formula in many aspects. For starters, it’s free. And easy and available. Breast fed babies achieve better weights and are less prone to allergies and asthma. The list of benefits … Read More
Green Tea Works with Microbes to Detox
Green tea comes steeped in endorsements from nutritionists. This power beverage is known to help prevent chronic diseases including cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. The secret appears to lie in its polyphenols; epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) dominates. Exactly how this particular polyphenol operates to avert diseases is largely unknown. Polyphenols scavenge toxins One idea: Toxic reactive cellular metabolites, such as ammonia and reactive carbonyl species … Read More