It has become common practice for people to supplement their diets with pills, s

Question

It has become common practice for people to supplement their diets with pills, smoothies, teas, herbals, and other complementary practices. Select from the list below (please be sure to avoid repeating topics in the discussion) and locate an evidence-based article to summarize and share in this discussion. (at least 150 words)

Probiotics
Acai
Apple cider vinegar
Garlic
Green tea
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Omega-3 fish oils
DHA
Glucosamine
Melatonin
St. John’s wort
Capsacin
Black cohosh
Aloe vera
Echinacea
Zinc oxide
Saw palmetto
Valerian root
Feverfew
Maca
Niacin
Red yeast rice
DHEA
Kava
Thunder god vine

Explanation / Answer

1. Probiotics:

Probiotics are the friendly bacteria that maintain our gut healthy. The probiotic properties, ability to survive in the intestine, lack of virulence are the unique features that made E. Coli Nissle a safe and effective probiotic in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Ulcerative colitis is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of the colon with relapsing remissions pattern. Bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss, anorexia are the common symptoms of ulcerative colitis. Prevention and treatment of relapses using antibiotics, amino salicylates and glucocortcoids has become challenging, so proboitic treatment is proposed. Probiotics help maintaining the microbial balance in the gut and confer health benefits to the host. E. Coli Nissle 1917 is a commensal bacterial strain being used as in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and its relapses.

E.coli is the first colonizing bacteria of infant gut and plays a key role in the maintenance of healthy gut and also provides defence against pathogenic bacteria. E.coli actively participates in several metabolic functions in our body without which our body cannot produ ce several essential metabolites. Chorismic acid produced by E.coli is the precursor of folic acid, tryptophan, phenyl alanine, ubiquinol, menaquinol etc. The colonising activity of E.coli also establishes environment for growth of certain anaerobic microbes that play an important role in the maintenance of our health.

Ref: Huebner C, Ding Y, Petermann I, Knapp C, Ferguson LR. The ProbioticEscherichia coli Nissle 1917 Reduces Pathogen Invasion and Modulates Cytokine Expression in Caco-2 Cells Infected with Crohn’s Disease-AssociatedE. coli LF82 . Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2011;77(7):2541-2544. doi:10.1128/AEM.01601-10.

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