|
Adding prebiotic ingredients to infant formula helps colonize thenewborn's gut with a stable population of beneficial bacteria, andprobiotics enhance immunity in formula-fed infants, two Universityof Illinois studies report. "The beneficial bacteria that live in a baby's intestine areall-important to an infant's health, growth, and ability to fightoff infections," said Kelly Tappenden, a U of I professor of nutrition and gastrointestinal physiology. "Breast-fed babies acquire thisprotection naturally. Formula-fed infants get sick more easilybecause the bacteria in their gut are always changing." The idea is to make formula more like breast milk by promoting thesorts of intestinal bacteria that live in breast-fed babies'intestines, she added. Prebiotics are carbohydrates that resist digestion by human enzymes and stimulate the growthand activity of beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Probiotics are actual live bacteria that are beneficial tointestinal health, she said. Infants have a special need for stimulation of their gut microbiotabecause they are born with a sterile intestine, Tappenden said. "A strong, robust population of microbes in the gut providescolonization resistance, and pathogens can't invade and infect aninfant who has that resistance as easily," she added. The researchers compared the effects of feeding pre- and probioticswith infants fed breast milk and control formulas. They alsocompared the enhanced formulas' effects in both vaginally andCaesarean-delivered babies. "The probiotic formula significantly enhanced immunity informula-fed infants," Tappenden said. Also, babies delivered by C-section had an especially improvedimmune response, an important finding because C-section babies area more vulnerable group, she said. Why? "Babies delivered naturally are exposed to the mother'sbacteria as they travel through the birth canal, and they develop ahealthier population of gut bacteria as a result. Babies deliveredby C-section enter a sterile environment, and their gut microbiotais quite different," Tappenden noted. In the probiotics study, scientists at five sites divided 172healthy six-week-old infants into two formula-fed groups and abreast-fed group. Beginning at six weeks of age, the formula-fedgroups received either a control formula or a formula thatcontained the beneficial bacteria Bifidobacterium animalissubspecies lactis (Bb12) for a six-week period. The infantsreceiving the probiotic formula had increased concentrations ofsecretory, anti-rotavirus, and anti-poliovirus-specificimmunoglobulin A (IgA). Fecal samples from babies receiving the probiotic formula revealedsignificantly heightened immunity, especially amongCaesarian-delivered infants, Tappenden said Infants who consumed the formula containing the prebioticingredients also benefited. In that study, 139 healthy babies weredivided into three groups. Breast-fed infants were compared withbabies fed either a control formula or a formula supplemented withgalacto- and fructo-oligosaccharides for six weeks. Oligosaccharides, found in breast milk, contribute to the healthypopulation of bacteria found in the guts of breast-fed infants. When fecal samples were tested, babies fed the prebiotic formulashowed modest improvement in the number of beneficial bacteria anddecreases in the types of bacteria that are often associated withillness. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from autoaircondenser.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Nissan Condenser , Audi Evaporator, Auto Air Conditioner Condenser,and more.
Related Articles -
Nissan Condenser, Audi Evaporator,
|
