Stressed? Maybe a tub of yoghurt can help.

In an experiment conducted on rats, scientists from the McMaster University in Canada exposed the animals to stress and were able to show that probiotic bacteria, such asLactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, prevented potentially harmful gut bacteria from sticking to and invading the intestinal wall. They hypothesize that the probiotic bacteria compete for space with the harmful bacteria, and therefore help minimize their impact. According to them, the use of probiotic products may be a promising approach to dealing with stress-related intestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Whether a similar effect can be expected on humans remains to be seen. At any rate, the results are suggestive, and a tub of probiotic yoghurt a day can't hurt, can it?

[Story and Photo: BBC News]

About the author: Ruth Schaffer is a Microbiologist by training and currently authors the Allergy and Biotechnology weblogs for Creative Weblogging, and a Asian travel weblog for b5media.. She is a mother to a bi-racial, bilingual, precocious 3-yr old.