probiotics and URTI

hunnymonster

I've been reading a bit more about sports nutrition recently and one of the things that has come up is the use of probiotics.

I don't suffer badly with GI issues (except occasionally mechanical ones but I don't think probiotics are going to help them). However, it read a couple of times that probiotics can be useful for upper respiratory tract infections. I have the world's worst set of lungs (including various pneumonia, pneumothoraxae, sarcoidosis). Does anyone know where I might look into this further. I'm afraid I don't know my Lactobacillus from my Bifidobacterium.

mags16

I've been out of the science game for many years and my knowledge is seriously out of date. However, to introduce probiotics to your alimentary canal, all you do is eat them and they hopefully they take up residence where you want them. And some of us ladies have introduced live yogurt to our nether region to fight thrush. How you get them to your lungs, I don't know. An inhaler is all I can think of.

hunnymonster

Thanks for the reply Mags. I think the implication of the articles* was that the ingestion to the gut inferred some kind of immunity to the respiratory system rather than direct inhalation. I don't know anything about if for sure though and not sure where to look.





*one article was in a Sunday paper and the other a men's magazine so hardly peer reviewed science!

mags16

I'm open to correction here, but my understanding of the probiotic effect is that the "good" bacteria in probiotics colonize the alimentary tract thus preventing pathogens from taking up residence in the same area. I'm not sure how ingesting probiotics could help URTIs. Please post if you find any more info.