Probiotic as we know that it is a group of live microbes which provides several health benefits. Due to remedial potential of probiotic, it considered as boon of nature from microbial world. They are treated as a solution or remedy for all types of difficulties or diseases. Their beneficial characteristic helps to protect the body from several health problems like gastrointestinal dysbiosis, systematic metabolic diseases up to complicated neurodegenerative disorders. Because of several advantages of probiotics, they are much popular as “Bio-therapy” which increased their application in food and medicine. The therapeutic potential of probiotic is the outcome of emerging field of biotechnology.

Probiotic strains are helpful in overall development of the digestive system and keep the gut healthy. But on other side it is also need to know that is all types of human strain probiotic are helpful in every kinds of health problems? The answer is NO.

The beneficial characteristic of human strain probiotic is strain specific. So the strain identity is important to link a strain to a specific health effect as well as to enable accurate surveillance and epidemiological studies (FAO/WHO). Therefore, for every specific health issues, it is necessary to choose the best specific probiotic strains.

There are different probiotic health suppments are available in the market which contains specific strains for specific health problems. Some products (eg Enterogermina) contains individual strain (Bacillus clausii) for the specific problem of diarrhoea in paediatric. Similarly, other products contain two or more human strains probiotic along with prebiotics (Synbioti) and provides benefits in multiple health problems. Probiotics & Synbiotics supplements both helps in maintaining a healthy gut microbial diversity.

What are the best Human Probiotic strains?

Researchers from all over the world, have been reported several best human probiotic strains on the basis of their trails and studies on human and animals. Therefore, in the present article we describe the information related to best human probiotic strains along with their benefits. It is well known that the specific role of one probiotic strain is different from other strains, in other words, we can say that the probiotic strain that’s best for diarrhoea may not be the best probiotic strain for Irritable bowel syndrome and so on. Therefore, it is very important to look at friendly bacteria on a strain-specific level, rather than only the genus and species of the microorganism in question. These strains provide therapeutic solution in different health problems. Some best human probiotic strains are:

Let’s finds out some best human probiotic strains in different health problems:

Best probiotic strain for Antibiotic associated Diarrhoea:

Probiotics are well known for their ability to prevent diarrhoea or reduce its severity in paediatric or as well in adults. The root cause of diarrhoea is either by pathogenic infection or due to negatively effects of antibiotic on the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut. Different probiotic human strains were proven to reduce the risk of antibiotic related diarrhoea. Researchers found that taking probiotics reducedClostridium difficile infection (CDAD) by 60%. Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus reuteri and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii are the most commonly associated and are generally employed for the treatment of diarrhea. Other strains Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Bifidobacterium breve M-16V, Bifidobacterium longum BB536, Bifidobacterium lactis BL-04 and Bifidobacterium bifidum BB-02 was also found very effective in reducing the diarrhoea particularly in adults.

Best Probiotic strains for Infectious diarrhoea:

Treatment and prevention of infectious diarrhoea are probably the most widely accepted health benefits of probiotic strains. Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute infantile diarrhoea in the world and a significant cause of infant mortality. On the basis of clinical studies, it was reported that probiotics such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus casei Shirota, and Bifidobacterium animalis Bb12 can shorten the duration of acute rotavirus diarrhoea with the strongest evidence pointing to the effectiveness of L. rhamnosus GG and B. animalis Bb12.

Best probiotic strains recommended for Constipation:

The problems of constipation arise due to several factors like eating a diet that's low in fibre, getting little or no physical activity, taking certain medications including sedatives etc. Various probiotic human strains like Bifidobacterium lactis BL-04, Bifidobacterium bifidum Bb-06, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactococcus lactis reported to reduce the symptoms of constipation in adults. Generally, these probiotic strains in combination with prebiotics like FOS, artichoke etc. are more effective during the problem of constipations.

Best probiotic strains for Allergies:

Recent evidence suggests that exposure to Probiotic bacteria in early life may exhibit a protective role against allergy. Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG were found to be effective in decreasing the eczema severity in breast fed infants. Lactobacillus paracasei improve the symptoms in subjects with hay fever and also help to reduces the symptoms of eczema through strengthening the skin barrier and improving water retention.

Best Probiotic strains in treatment of IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome):

The symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome are varying from person to person. It was reported that any single or specific strains not sufficient to get benefits during the problem of IBS, but multistrain probiotics generally worked better to reduce the symptoms.

In a study it was shown that about 73% improvement in symptoms was observed with combination of Saccharomyces boulardii, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum given to the IBS patients, but only in that case when the patient had small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). IBS patients without SIBO only had a 10% improvement.

Best probiotic strains for IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease):

It is reported that over one million people in the US suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms has been observed in both cases which including pain, diarrhoea, stools with mucus or blood and ulceration or tissue damage within the alimentary canal. Probiotic strains in Gut play a crucial role in triggering, maintaining, and exacerbating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and help to shifting from pro- to anti-inflammatory. Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. particularly Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Lactobacillus johnsonii were found to be best probiotic strains to reduce the symptoms of IBD.

Immunity enhancer best probiotic strains:

Up to 70% of the body’s immune cells are found in the gut. Therefore, keeping the gut healthy is key to keeping the immune system functioning normally. Bifidobacterium infantis has been shown to increase T regulatory cells. These cells help prevent autoimmune diseases and can help limit chronic inflammation diseases. Also, probiotics are involved in inhibiting pathogen growth in the gut by synthesizing several antimicrobial compounds and keeps the gut healthy. It also stimulating immunomodulatory cells. Therefore, it is considered the next-most significant immune defense system when regularly given antibiotics are made ineffective by antibiotic resistance. Various probiotics strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus reuteri, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium lactis and many more have been considered to be best in enhancing and maintaining the immunity to fight against bacterial and viral infections.

Best probiotic strains recommended for Anxiety:

Number of studies established the link between the gut health and mental health. Probiotic strains help to keep the gut healthy, hence they also responsible to regulate the mood and mental health condition. The probiotic bacteria in gut produce Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) which playing a key role in anxiety and depression disorders. Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus helveticus along with Bifidobacterium longm and Bifidobacterium breve are reported as best strain for anxiety on the basis of GABA production during the trails on animals.

Best Probiotics for Healthy Heart:

Probiotics has been reported to help keep our heart healthy by lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and blood pressure. Shimizu et al reported that Lactobacillus acidophilus strain has proven greater ability to lower total cholesterol. Furthermore, in vitro studies showed that Bifidobacterium lactis can also reduce the cholesterol absorption.

Best probiotic strains for Weight Loss and Belly Fat:

Many Strains of Lactobacillus spp and Bifidobacterium spp. may help in weight loss through a number of mechanism. They prevent the absorption of dietary fat in the intestine and fat is then excreted through feces. Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LG2055) has been shown to prevent abdominal adiposity, and suppress the lipid absorption.

Best probiotic strains in other health problems:

The list of health benefits mediated by probiotics strains is not limited to the ones mentioned so far and includes a range of promising effects. Few reports proved that Lactobacillus salivarius can suppress the gastric colonization and functions of Helicobacter pylori, which is responsible for peptic ulcers, gastric cancers, and gastritis. Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05 has shown to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women by 50%.

Studies have demonstrated that certain members of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. decrease the levels of carcinogenetic enzymes produced by colonic flora. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp may reduce the length of time for common cold symptoms and the severity of symptoms and they also reported to improve the absorption of iron in the body.

Conclusion:

Probiotics strains have been linked to a wide range of health benefits. There is lots of scientific evidence supporting the potential role of probiotic strains to provide benefits in several health problems like lactose intolerance, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and infectious diarrhoea, allergy and in various other conditions. It is well known that probiotic strains are safe, beneficial and has no or very less side effects. But we should also understand that for a particular health problem, specific probiotic strain is required. Simultaneously it is also need to know that only viable cells of probiotic strains up to a certain level can provide the benefits against the health problem. If the product or supplements does not contain the sufficient viable cells which is required to work against the specific health problems, then we cannot get much benefits by taking such supplements. Therefore, knowledge of best strains for a specific health problem is important but simultaneously it is also necessary to have the idea about the potency or viability, dosages and application of the probiotic products to get proper benefits.

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