Bioactive Foods in Promoting Health: Probiotics and Prebiotics

What is a dietary supplement?
Congress defined the term ";dietary supplement"; in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. A dietary supplement is a product taken by mouth that contains a ";dietary ingredient"; intended to supplement the diet. The ";dietary ingredients"; in these products may include: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, and metabolites. Dietary supplements can also be extracts or concentrates, and may be found in many forms such as tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders... DSHEA places dietary supplements in a special category under the general umbrella of ";foods,"; not drugs, and requires that every supplement be labeled a dietary supplement.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ds-oview.html#what
Probiotics and prebiotics are components present in foods, or that can be incorporated into foods, which yield health benefits related to their interactions with the gastrointestinal tract (GI). (Emphasis added.nm)
Probiotic microorganisms can be found in both supplement form and as components of foods and beverages. These bacteria and yeasts have been used for thousands of years to ferment foods. Certain yogurts and other cultured dairy products contain such helpful bacteria, particularly specific strains of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Not all bacteria present in fermented milk products or yogurt have a probiotic effect. For this reason, in order to consider a Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium a probiotic, the specific strains selected must exert a clinically established health benefit.
Prebiotics are found naturally in many foods, and can also be isolated from plants (e.g., chicory root) or synthesized (e.g., enzymatically, from sucrose)?see below, ?Examples of Probiotics and Prebiotics.? In order for a food ingredient to be classified as a prebiotic, it has to be demonstrated, that it: (a) is not broken down in the stomach or absorbed in the GI tract, (b) is fermented by the gastrointestinal microflora; and (c) most importantly, selectively stimulates the growth and/or activity of intestinal bacteria associated with health and wellbeing.
Probiotic bacteria taken together with prebiotics that support their growth are called ?synbiotics.? Both work together in a synergistic way more efficiently promoting the probiotics? benefits.
International Food Information Council Foundation
http://www.ific.org/publications/factsheets/preprobioticsfs.cfm#Probiotics%20and%20Prebiotics%20Found%20in%20the%20Foods%20We%20Eat
Chart
Examples of Probiotics and Prebiotics
Class/Component Source


Potential Benefit
Probiotics
Certain species and strains of Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria, Yeast Certain yogurts, other cultured dairy products, and non-dairy applications May improve gastrointestinal health and systemic immunity
Prebiotics
Inulin, Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), Polydextrose, Arabinogalactan, Polyols'lactulose, lactitol Whole grains, onions, bananas, garlic, honey, leeks, artichokes, fortified foods and beverages, dietary supplements and other food applications May improve gastrointestinal health; may improve calcium absorption
Chart adapted from International Food Information Council Foundation: Media Guide on Food Safety and Nutrition: 2004-2006.

Examples are not an all-inclusive list

Probiotics are now a multi-billion-dollar, dietary supplement business which is built upon extremely little research data. In order to follow the 1994 ruling, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with the support of Congress is currently pushing this industry to base its claims and products on scientific research. Research as shown that dietary habits need to be altered for most people whether for continued or improved good health. The conclusions and recommendations from the various chapters in this book will provide a basis for those important factors of change by industry with new uses. Animal studies and early clinical ones will lead to new uses and studies. Particularly the cutting edge experimental and clinical studies from Europe will provide novel approaches to clinical uses through their innovative new studies.

Bioactive Foods in Health Promotion: Probiotics and Prebiotics brings together experts working on the different aspects of supplementation, foods, and bacterial preparations, in health promotion and disease prevention, to provide current scientific information, as well as providing a framework upon which to build clinical disease treatment studies.
Since common dietary bacterial preparations are over-the-counter and readily available, this book will be useful to the growing nutrition, food science, and natural product community that will use it as a resource in identifying dietary behavioral modifications in pursuit of improved health as well as for treatment of specific disease, as it focuses on the growing body of knowledge of the role of various bacteria in reducing disease risk and disease.




Readership
The primary audience will include (A) research microbiologists and food scientists employed in academics, (B) industrially employed dieticians, microbiologists, nutritionists, and food scientists as there is a growing market for various types of prebiotics and probiotics, (C) to a lesser extend regulators at places like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and people in state and city health departments, and (D) physicians, dieticians etc in the health care complex as there is increasing evidence as well as interest in the real and/or postulated health benefits and uses in disease treatment There will be high international interest (Europe and Japan) as a significant part of the ongoing research and the authors are non-U.S.

Contents
Part I: Introduction and Overview; Probiotics: Empirical Therapeutic Medicine; Assessment of Prebiotics and Probiotics: An Overview; Human Flora-Associated Mice as a Model for Studing Pro- and Prebiotics; Effects of Probiotics on Intestinal Transport and Barrier Functions; Safety of Probiotic Bacteria; Prevention of Infection by Probiotics: An Overview; Prebiotics and Probiotics in Human Health: An Overview; Part II: Prebiotics in Health Promotion; Prebiotics for Prevention of Allergy; Prebiotics as Infant Formula: Prebiotics as Infant Foods: Risk/Benefits; Prebiotic Oligosaccharides and Infant Health; Prebiotic-Probiotic Products and Child Health; Prebiotics in Immunomodulation for Treatment of Accute Pancreatitis; ; Prebiotics and Bacteria in Fish: Health Benefits/Risks; GI Bacteria Changes in Animal Models Due to Prebiotics; Prebiotics in the Gastrointestinal Tract; Part III: Prebiotics and Probiotics as Therapies; Probiotics in Childhood Intestinal Infections; Prebiotics and Probiotics in Asthma Prevention and Treatment; Probiotics and Prebiotics: Role in Surgery Recuperation; Prebiotics and Probiotics in Therapy and Prevention of GI Diseases; Priobiotic Treatment of Colitis in Animal Models and People; Probiotics and Prebiotics in Poultry Nutrition and Health; Probiotics and Immunomodulation; Intestinal Epithelial Cell Homoeostatis and Colitis: Regulation by Prebiotics and Probiotics; Probiotics and Prebiotics: Effects on Diarrhea; Part IV: Probiotics and Health; Probiotic Applications in the Management of Metabolic Disorders; Priobiotics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease; Probiotics and Heliobacter Pylori Infection; Pacreatitis and (enteral) Nutrition of Probiotics; Probiotics on Bacterial Meningitis; Growth of Probiotic Bacteria and Preparation as Food Sources; Probiotics and Prebiotics and Atopic Eczema; Bioengineering of Bacteria: Improved Probiotics; Safety Considerations: Probiotics and Starter Cultures: Food Formulation to Increase Probiotic Bacteria's Action or Population; Probiotics in Adhesion of Pathogens: Mechanisms of Action; Prebiotics and Probiotics in Experimental Models of Rodent Colitis: Lessons in Treatment or Prevention of Inflammatory Bowel Disease; Probiotics and Fungal Colonization of the Gastrointestinal Tract; Probiotics on Vegetable Carriers: Role Host Defenses and Gastrointestinal Disease Resistance; Prebiotics and Probiotics: Potential for Heart Health Promotion; Microarray Analysis of Probiotics Effectiveness; Probiotics in Cancer Prevention; Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrom; Probiotic Bacillus: Role in GI Immunity; Role of Probiotics in Prevention and Treatment of Inflammation: Extending Beyond the Gut Mucosa

Author Information
Edited by Ronald Watson, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA and Victor R. Preedy, King's College, University of London, UK