Can Probiotics (Good Bacteria)

Make a Difference to Your Health?

It is well known that we all need a healthy ecosystem of good bacteria in our gut to maintain good health. What you may not know, is that good bacteria are essential for life and may also be very beneficial for coeliac’s.

Coeliac's disease may be aggravated by an imbalance in friendly and unfriendly bacteria in the gut. Research examining bacteria in children with coeliac's disease (CD) showed the ratios of Lactobacillus-Bifidus (good bacteria) to Bacteroides–E. coli (bad bacteria) were severely reduced.¹ The researchers concluded that the imbalance in bacteria was more likely to cause the inflammatory nature of the disease and therefore, increase the risks of long term complications.

This research represents a great step forward, considering the most common approach to dealing with coeliac's disease has been to adhere to a strict diet.  And when you think about it, it really does make a lot of sense to consider adding  probiotic bacteria (friendly) to the diet as recent research has suggested that beneficial bacterial can counteract and even reduce the harmful of effects gliadin (a gluten protein).

Sufferers of Coeliac’s avoid many foods, additives and beverages to escape the agonizing pain associated with the condition. This has lead to a massive growth in the production of gluten free foods. In line with this search for more food choices, European researchers conducted trials with hybrid sourdough breads subjected to fermentation with Lactic Acid Bacteria. The researchers concluded that the fermentation process reduced the protein in the grains that cause the problems for coeliac’s.

The research is quite compelling and is, in our opinion, very promising.  Long before the research was undertaken, we at CoeliacWorldWide.com were already convinced as to the benefits of fermented probiotic superfoods. 

Fermented foods not only contain the beneficial bacteria we so desperately need, they have also been pre-digested, making the food highly absorbable.  One of the complications of CD is the damage done to the villi in the small intestine. The villi represent the nutrient absoption sites in the bowel, and when injured affect how we absorb nutrients. Thus, the advantage of consuming predigested foods subjected to fermentation means that we will have less trouble digesting and absorbing these nutrient dense foods.

For more information on fermented foods visit the Gluten Free Shop

¹Nadal et al 2007, Imbalance in the composition of the duodenal microbiota of children with coeliac disease