A Case for Probiotics in Gas-Related Symptoms

Source: International Probiotics Association

Eat more fiber, dietitians advise. To be sure, health-conscious, disease-fearing humans love their beans, fruits, vegetables and whole grains — until the dreaded intestinal gas shows up in the end.

Healthy plant-based diets are rich in fermentable residues. These components (resistant starches, pectins, cellulose and others) arrive in the colon after incomplete digestion and absorption in the small bowel. Gas is produced during their fermentation by the colonic microbiota.

In an open-design, a 3-day high-residue diet was administered to 63 healthy subjects before and following 28 days consumption of a fermented milk product (FMP) containing probiotics (lactic acid bacteria and a strain of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis). To see the results of this study, click here.