Journal of Probiotics & Health
Open Access

Strategy of Probiotics to Improve Overall Human Health

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Probiotic strains are often successfully incorporated and made into highly acceptable food products while retaining their viability and functionality. the event of successful probiotic products depends on the choice  of probiotic strains for human consumption, proof of a therapeutic effect, strain survival, viability at the time of consumption and storage requirements. Dairy products have proven to be a superb vehicle for the delivery of probiotics. Developing countries are reeling under the issues of acute and antibiotic associated diarrhea, HIV/ AIDS and poor nutritional status thanks to improper hygiene, sanitation, unavailability of safe beverage and lack of awareness. Results of this review suggest a promising role of probiotic products within the inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms, reduction of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, alleviation of acute diarrheal diseases especially in infants and youngsters, protection against HIV/AIDS, management of lactase deficiency, lowering blood cholesterol levels, improving the nutritional status of the population, allergy prevention and as a vaccine adjuvant in developing countries. Educational campaigns to tell the population and policy makers about the health benefits of probiotics could help alleviate these problems during a safe way without great effort and with minimal increase within the cost of such probiotic products.

Introduction

According to the United Nations Development Programmed report in 2010, many developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and therefore the Middle East are considered to possess a gross income and a top quality of life index below average. People in developing countries not only suffer from malnutrition but also from enteric infections thanks to weakened immunity and lack of proper hygiene, sanitation, clean beverage and access to proper medical care . Every year more than a million children in these regions suffer and die from diarrhea alone.

Advances within the field of drugs and public health during the last decades have increased the survival rate of youngsters in their early life however, every 15 seconds one child Still dies from diarrheal disease mostly associated with contaminated food, water or HIV/AIDS. It was also found that out of roughly 8.795 million deaths within the world Among children below 5 years of age, 68% was due to infectious diseases, with 49% of these deaths taking place in developing countries such as India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also predicts that by 2025 there'll still be around 5 million deaths among children below 5 years of age and 97% of these deaths will be in developing countries. In addition to those major problems; there are other nutritional related disorders like lactase deficiency or high cholesterol levels that affect people in developing countries. Therefore, urgent and sustainable measures are required to be undertaken by developing nations to improve the health of their people.

Probiotic interventions could provide a useful opportunity to ameliorate this current situation. This review will thus outline Probiotic interventions could provide a useful opportunity to ameliorate this current situation. This review will thus outline.

At present, over 70 probiotic products are available everywhere the world commercially and include dairy products like soured cream , ice cream, buttermilk, yogurt, powdered milk and frozen desserts containing Bifid bacteria and Lactobacilli . However it has been reported that viable bifid bacteria counts in fermented milk products may reduce rapidly unless specific attention is given to strain selection and pH. Also, it's been reported that fermented foods can't be termed as probiotic food because there's no evidence supporting the fact that, if only the bacteria within the food is useful or there's also contribution of the food matrix. Also, in fermented foods, bacteria are part of a various community that's not well-defined in terms of strain composition and stability.

The incorporation of probiotic strains into cheese might be an encouraging alternative to the Bifid bacteria survival problem in acidic products like yogurt and cultured buttermilk. Cheese's closed matrix and low acidity, additionally to the high fat content may protect these strains during cheese manufacturing, storage and passage through the alimentary canal. Research has also shown potential to incorporate probiotics in non-dairy foods such as soy milk, soy cheese, chocolate and sort of juices such as tomato, orange, grape, carrot, beef and cabbage juice. Probiotics also are available within the sort of capsules, tablets and powders. . Overall the incorporation of probiotics in foods and their survival ability depends on the food matrix, composition, pH, storage facilities, thus making it a challenge for manufacturers.

CONCLUSION

Consumption of probiotic food products is highly recommended in developing countries because of the proclaimed health benefits which include alleviation of acute diarrheal diseases, increase in natural resistance to infectious disease in gastrointestinal tract and HIV/AIDS, improvement in lactose intolerance, reduction in serum cholesterol levels, improved nutrition, allergy treatment and serving as a vaccine adjuvant. In developing countries there is a lack of awareness about health benefits of probiotics and regulations are needed to ensure that quality and safety standards are met. In the absence of regulations, there could be production of unreliable products containing low levels of the beneficial strains that have no benefits.

Hence, funding for this area of research in developing countries is very important to prove that probiotics can help to improve the nutritional and health status of people. Also each nation should develop a strategy pertaining to the needs of the people, cost and compliance issues, increased awareness and consumer confidence which will ultimately lead to acceptance of probiotic products in the society. Some of the approaches could include license free inclusion of probiotics in common food vehicles such as yogurt with a minimal increase in cost, radio publicity and increased Government initiative in informing to people about the benefits of probiotics. Finally, compared to normal therapeutic agents or drugs, probiotic strains are comparatively cheaper to produce, store and deliver which would overall be beneficial for developing regions.