The benefits and recommended use of probiotics

Alan Greene, MD, shares advice for parents on the benefits that probiotics has for kids, and when the best time is to start giving probiotic supplements to children
The Benefits And Recommended Use Of Probiotics For Kids
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The benefits and recommended use of probiotics

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Probiotics is the name for beneficial bacteria in our guts and on our skin. And prebiotics is the name for things, foods that nourish the good bacteria in our guts. It turns out, for most of human history, we were getting probiotics sort of automatically. Whenever someone visits a farm, they collect more beneficial bacteria that end up in them - it's not surprising. There are studies showing that if you visit a farm even once before the first birthday, your lifetime risk of asthma is lower, just by doing that one thing. But in recent industrialized society, as we move away from the farms, into the cities, since we've got chlorine in our water to kill infections, as we got antibiotics being prescribed so often for children and as we're eating so much food that's junk food, we've lost a lot of the good bacteria in our guts. It turns out, giving probiotics to pregnant women, to nursing women and to children, can be really beneficial. I recommend it for everybody when they take antibiotics, but it's good other times as well. And some of the benefits that have been shown is you can decrease eczema, for instance, in kids if their mom or the baby gets probiotics. You can also decrease allergies in general. One of the most interesting things that I found recently was the study of giving probiotics versus placebo in preventing flu. And what they showed was that getting probiotics was about as effective as a flu shot at preventing flu. Healthy bacteria are part of us. There are about 10x as many bacterial cells in our body as our own cells, so it makes sense to have ones you really want to be friends with.

Alan Greene, MD, shares advice for parents on the benefits that probiotics has for kids, and when the best time is to start giving probiotic supplements to children

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Alan Greene, MD

Founder, DrGreene.com

Dr. Alan Greene founded his website, DrGreene.com, in 1995, cited by the AMA as "the pioneer physician web site." In 2010 he founded the WhiteOut Now movement to change how babies are fed from their very first bite of solid food, and in 2012 he founded TICC TOCC – Transitioning Immediate Cord Clamping To Optimal Cord Clamping. He is an author of several books including Feeding Baby Green and appears frequently in the media including such venues as the The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TODAY Show, Good Morning America, the Dr. Oz Show, and is a regular columnist for Parenting magazine. He is a practicing pediatrician and the father of four.

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