Some interesting facts and finding about
allergy
Largest immune organ of the body – our
intestine.
Being a digestive organ, our intestine contains around 80% of all antibody producing cells in the body, thus making it our largest immune organ. Intestine also the home to trillions of bacteria, both
friendly and unfriendly, creating what we call the intestine microflora. This natural condition not only helps to keep us healthy, also plays a pivotal role in prevention of allergy.
Bifidobacteria – the friendly bacteria
For a newborn’s intestine, it is in sterile condition but within hours after birth, it will be colonized by microorganisms from the mother’s birth canal and the surrounding environment. In the case of an exclusively breastfed
infants, the friendly bacteria, Bifidobacteria, becomes dominant and eventually makes up 99% of the total bacteria count. A child’s immune system at birth is immature thus is susceptible to infections and allergy. The present of bifidobacteria will help to stimulate the maturation and functioning of the child’s
intestinal immune system. It has being well documented that young children who are suffering from allergies have less bifidobacteria count as compared to those without allergies.(
refer 01). In addition, bifidobacteria also offers protection against intestinal infections caused by harmful bacteria. A case of this infection is gastroenteritis which responsible for causing diarrhoea, a main cause of infant mortality in many underdeveloped countries. Breast milk contains high degree of lactose, low phosphorus and protein. (refer 02).
Bifidobacteria was long since being recognized as probiotic bacteria. Many live cultures of theses bacteria are used as food ingredients. When ingested, these friendly bacteria offer many health benefits to the host, which include,
Protection against intestinal infections which may cause diarrhea, (refer 03)
Protection against allergic diseases, (refer 04)
Promote the synthesis of Vitamin B and K, (refer 05)
Promote the absorption of minerals. (refer 06)
Today Bifidobacteria are widely used in many children food diets like milk, yogurt and yogurt drinks. Clinical trials have also shown that bifidobacteria help improve intestinal health of the infants and young children and improve their bowel movement. (refer 07)
Refer 01 – Bjorksten B, Naaber P, Sepp E, Mikelsaar M (1999) The intestinal microflora in allergic Estonian and Swedish 2-year-old children. Clin Exp Allergy 29:342-346
Refer 02 – Heine W, et al. Lactose and protein absorption breast milk and cow’s milk preparation and its influence on the intestinal Flora. Acta Paediatr Scand 1977;66:699-703 Refer 03 – Saavedra JM, et al. Feeding of Bifidobacterium bifidum and Streptococcus thermophilus to infants in hospital for prevention of diarrhea and shedding of rotavirus. The Lancet 1994;344:1046-9
Refer 04 – Marko Kalliomaki et al. Probiotics in primary prevention of atopic disease: a randomized placebo controlled trial. The Lancet 2001, vol 357;1076-9
Refer 05 – Rasic, J.L. and Kurmann, J.A.(1983) Bifidobacteria and their role, Birkhauser Verlag
Refer 06 – Probiotics in Infancy & Childhood. Proceedings of an expert panel convened by Nestle Australia, May 2002.
Refer 07 – Ziegler EE. Study on food intake and growth in infants fed formulas with reduced protein content and with or without added probiotics. October 10, 2002 (in press)
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