Inclusion of Fermented Foods in Food Guides around the World

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Abstract

Fermented foods have been a well-established part of the human diet for thousands of years, without much of an appreciation for, or an understanding of, their underlying microbial functionality, until recently. The use of many organisms derived from these foods, and their applications in probiotics, have further illustrated their impact on gastrointestinal wellbeing and diseases affecting other sites in the body. However, despite the many benefits of fermented foods, their recommended consumption has not been widely translated to global inclusion in food guides. Here, we present the case for such inclusion, and challenge health authorities around the world to consider advocating for the many benefits of these foods.

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Most cited references 78

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Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health.

Nayil K. Malik, Y. Kim, S Parvez … (2006)

Probiotics are usually defined as microbial food supplements with beneficial effects on the consumers. Most probiotics fall into the group of organisms' known as lactic acid-producing bacteria and are normally consumed in the form of yogurt, fermented milks or other fermented foods. Some of the beneficial effect of lactic acid bacteria consumption include: (i) improving intestinal tract health; (ii) enhancing the immune system, synthesizing and enhancing the bioavailability of nutrients; (iii) reducing symptoms of lactose intolerance, decreasing the prevalence of allergy in susceptible individuals; and (iv) reducing risk of certain cancers. The mechanisms by which probiotics exert their effects are largely unknown, but may involve modifying gut pH, antagonizing pathogens through production of antimicrobial compounds, competing for pathogen binding and receptor sites as well as for available nutrients and growth factors, stimulating immunomodulatory cells, and producing lactase. Selection criteria, efficacy, food and supplement sources and safety issues around probiotics are reviewed. Recent scientific investigation has supported the important role of probiotics as a part of a healthy diet for human as well as for animals and may be an avenue to provide a safe, cost effective, and 'natural' approach that adds a barrier against microbial infection. This paper presents a review of probiotics in health maintenance and disease prevention.

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Lactic acid bacteria as functional starter cultures for the food fermentation industry

Frédéric Leroy, Luc De Vuyst (2004)

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Probiotics in the management of inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review of intervention studies in adult patients.

Ad A. Masclee, Daisy Jonkers, John Penders … (2012)

Mounting evidence suggests an important role for the intestinal microbiota in the chronic mucosal inflammation that occurs in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and novel molecular approaches have further identified a dysbiosis in these patients. Several mechanisms of action of probiotic products that may interfere with possible aetiological factors in IBD have been postulated. Our objective was to discuss the rationale for probiotics in IBD and to systematically review clinical intervention studies with probiotics in the management of IBD in adults. A systematic search was performed in PubMed up to 1 October 2011, using defined keywords. Only full-text papers in the English language addressing clinical outcomes in adult patients were included. The 41 eligible studies were categorized on disease type (ulcerative colitis [UC] with/without an ileo-anal pouch and Crohn's disease [CD]) and disease activity. Pooled odds ratios were only calculated per probiotic for a specific patient group when more than one randomized controlled trial was available. Well designed randomized controlled trials supporting the application of probiotics in the management of IBD are still limited. Meta-analyses could only be performed for a limited number of studies revealing overall risk ratios of 2.70 (95% CI 0.47, 15.33) for inducing remission in active UC with Bifido-fermented milk versus placebo or no additive treatment (n = 2); 1.88 (95% CI 0.96, 3.67) for inducing remission in active UC with VSL#3 versus placebo (n = 2); 1.08 (95% CI 0.86, 1.37) for preventing relapses in inactive UC with Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 versus standard treatment (n = 3); 0.17 (95% CI 0.09, 0.33) for preventing relapses in inactive UC/ileo-anal pouch anastomosis (IPAA) patients with VSL#3 versus placebo; 1.21 (95% CI 0.57, 2.57) for preventing endoscopic recurrences in inactive CD with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG versus placebo (n = 2); and 0.93 (95% CI 0.63, 1.38) for preventing endoscopic recurrences in inactive CD with Lactobacillus johnsonii versus placebo (n = 2). Further well designed studies based on intention-to-treat analyses by several independent research groups are still warranted to support the promising results for E. coli Nissle in inactive UC and the multispecies product VSL#3 in active UC and inactive pouch patients. So far, no evidence is available to support the use of probiotics in CD. Future studies should focus on specific disease subtypes and disease location. Further insight into the aetiology of IBD and the mechanisms of probiotic strains will aid in selecting probiotic strains for specific disease entities and disease locations.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Nutrients

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Nutrients

Journal ID (publisher-id): nutrients

Title: Nutrients

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 2072-6643

Publication date (Electronic): 08 January 2015

Publication date Collection: January 2015

Volume: 7

Issue: 1

Pages: 390-404

Affiliations

[1 ]Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research, Lawson Health Research Institute, 268 Grosvenor St., N6A 4V2, London, ON, N6A 4V2, Canada; E-Mails: schilto@ 123456uwo.ca (S.N.C.); jeremy.burton@ 123456lawsonresearch.com (J.P.B.)

[2 ]Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

[3 ]Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

[4 ]Department of Surgery, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

[5 ]Division of Urology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

Author notes

[* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: gregor@ 123456uwo.ca ; Tel.: +519-646-6100 (ext. 65256).

Article

Publisher ID: nutrients-07-00390

DOI: 10.3390/nu7010390

PMC ID: 4303846

PubMed ID: 25580813

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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Inclusion of Fermented Foods in Food Guides around the World

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Abstract

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Most cited references 78

Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health.

Lactic acid bacteria as functional starter cultures for the food fermentation industry

Probiotics in the management of inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review of intervention studies in adult patients.

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