I was watching a program called "Road To Good Health" on PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. The author "she" was talking about probiotics and also about the good bacteria verus the bad bacteria. I heard probiotics suppose to be good for you especially on the digestive organs.

What is your view on probiotics?

Probiotics is a general term for living micro-organisms - usually known as “friendly” bacteria - and have health benefits in the body. Many are similar to organisms that are found in the body naturally , particularly in the digestive tract. Probiotics have become popular supplements and food additives, most often used to promote healthy digestion.

They work by balancing levels of micro-organisms in the intestines driving down the numbers of harmful bacteria. They also appear to boost the body’s immune system.

Although research is ongoing, there’s evidence that some probiotics might help irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and other types of diarrhoea, colitis, acne and eczema in children.

Researchers are also studying probiotics to determine if they might help infections, dental disease, allergies, and diseases of the liver and pancreas. They are also testing probiotics to see if they can help prevent the recurrence of colon and bladder cancer. There are many types of probiotics. They include Bifidobacteria (like Bifidobacterium bifidus) Lactobacilli (like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus GG), and some yeasts (like Saccharomyces boulardii). Different probiotics have different effects; although one may help treat diarrhoea or a vaginal infection, another will have no effect ion those conditions.

It should be noted that probiotics are different from prebiotics. Prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients in foods that are used to stimulate the growth of probiotic bacteria in the body. And just to confuse matters even further, there are synbiotics - a combination of prebiotics with probiotics.