Yogurt has in it the good bacteria, which is called probiotic.

Of late, the healthy eating trend has led to an increase in probiotic yoghurts and probiotic yoghurt product consumption. But the latest report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) suggests that probiotic yoghurts is not as healthy as one was led to believe.

For a while now, the manufacture of these products have been raving about these options which according to them can relieve digestive irregularity and boost the immune system. But the study by EFSA mentions that there is very little evidence supporting these claims.

An Interesting Subject Of Study

The probiotics food industry on the other hand has pointed out that the EFSA uses a highly scientific methord of testing, which is generally used only in the pharmaceutical industry. These complains are of little use to the consumer whose main interest lies in knowing whether the  yoghurts and the yoghurt drinks and dietary supplements are good for their health or not.

The head of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading, and an expert of Probiotics, Bob Rastall is of the opinion that these are good for the health. He point out that these are really functional food, which has some component or ingredients that can help reduce health related risks in the human body. The process of increasing the number of the good bacteria, or the probiotics, in these food items will result in a related health improvement.

Healthy Options

These good bacteria’s or the probiotics have been found to decrease the severity of IBS or the irritable Bowel Syndrome, bloating abdominal pain and diarrhea in certain people. He in fact mentions that eating probiotic food will cause no physical harm to a human body. But he has also mentioned that probiotics are not an alternative to healthy eating. This means that one cannot eat unhealthy food and lead an unhealthy lifestyle, hopping that the probiotic yoghurt included in the meal, will work its magic. Damage done by unhealthy habits cannot be undone by probiotics, as these are just a part of a healthy diet plan.

Peter Whorwell, the Gastroenterologist of Manchester University is of the opinion that for people who have strong cases of IBS, probiotics will not work, because they are not strong enough. Instead, it might work on people who have lesser levels of IBS. But, unlike the drugs that are prescribed in these cases. These probiotic yogurts do not have any side effects.

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