Radiant skin and hair are universally recognized as indications of good health. However, this 'glow of health' display remains poorly understood. We found that feeding of probiotic bacteria to aged mice induced integumentary changes mimicking peak health and reproductive fitness characteristic of much younger animals. Eating probiotic yogurt triggered epithelial follicular anagen-phase shift wi...

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract performs key functions that regulate the relationship between the host and the microbiota. Research has shown numerous benefits of probiotic intake in the modulation of immune responses and human metabolic processes. However, unfavorable attention has been paid to temporal changes of the microbial composition and diversity of the GI tract. This study aimed to inv...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Triple therapy with a proton pump inhibitor, amoxicillin and clarithromycin in Helicobacter pylori eradication is widely accepted, but this combination fails in a considerable number of cases. Our aim was to evaluate whether probiotic-containing yogurt affects the success of eradication. The second aim was to investigate the efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of the side e...

Exposure to environmental toxins is a 21st century global health problem that is often the result of dietary intake. Although efforts are made to reduce dietary toxin levels, they are often unsuccessful, warranting research into novel methods to reduce host exposure. Food-grade microbes that can be delivered to the gastrointestinal tract and that are capable of sequestering toxins present a saf...

Probiotics are microorganisms which confer health benefits upon application in sufficiently-high viable cell amounts. Probiotics are typically members of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species commonly associated with human gastrointestinal tracts. In the recent past, there has been a rising interest in producing functional foods containing encapsulated probiotic bacteria. Recent studies hav...

The use of essential oils in foods has attracted great interest, due to their antagonistic action against pathogenic microorganisms. However, this action is undesirable for probiotic foods, as products containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus. The aim of the present study was to measure the sensitivity profile of L. rhamnosus and a yogurt starter culture in fermented milk, upon addition of increasing...

In the present study, the effects of milk supplementation on growth and viability of yogurt (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus) and probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria) were studied during yogurt production and 33 days of refrigerated storage. The incubation time to reach pH = 4.5 was greatly affected by the addition of milk ...

The popularity of dairy products fortified with prebiotics and probiotics continues to increase as consumers desire flavorful foods that will fulfill their health needs. Our objectives were to assess the sensory profile of drinkable yogurts made with prebiotics and probiotics and to determine the viability of the probiotics in the yogurt drink over the duration of storage. Thirteen trained desc...