Probiotics for Food & Skin Allergies

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We have all seen the commercials touting probiotic supplements for digestion benefits. Many people are now taking probiotics after ingesting antibiotics to restore the beneficial intestinal flora that antibiotics kill off. MDs are even starting to recommend probiotic supplementation during and after antibiotic use. New studies point to even further benefits from probiotic supplementation. One area of scientific research targets building the immune system to fight allergies that affect the skin.

One example is eczema, which is more common in toddlers and infants. A recent study in the Netherlands started with 150 pregnant women with a family history of allergic disease. During the final six weeks of each woman's pregnancy, each was given either three strains of probiotics in a pill form, or a placebo pill. In order to prevent bias, their doctors were not told who was given the probiotics.

After the women gave birth, most of the children were monitored by the Dutch researchers, and the children continued to receive probiotics or placebos for the first 12 months of their life. After only three months, the rate of eczema showing in the probiotics subjects was less than half of those who were given the placebo pills. The researchers did not give any of the children probiotics or placebo pills after 12 months, but many of the children were observed by the researchers until the age of two. As they approached two years old, the gap between those with eczema occurring and those without narrowed somewhat. However, there was still a substantial difference in occurrence of eczema between the treated and untreated children, showing that probiotics can have an effect on offspring from allergy prone mothers. The report was highlighted in the Journal of Allergy.

Another study recently published in the Journal of Nutrition involved probiotics given to mice, focusing on the probiotic effects on food allergies. All mice had whey intolerances, and they were fed probiotics and prebiotics while drinking milk (which contains whey proteins). With the addition of probiotics, the mice intolerances to whey proteins showed considerable improvement, with almost no skin reactions to the allergen. These findings are extremely valuable, as up to eight percent of children have various chronic food allergies today. Supplementing probiotics in children with food allergies may be a natural, safe way to treat food allergies and reduce suffering.