Scientist - News - 14-03-2009:
Danone study: probiotic yoghurt relieves digestive discomfort
Beintema, Nienke
A recent pilot study by Danone reports positive effects of daily consumption of Activia yoghurt, a Danone product containing Bifidobacterium lactis. The digestive well-being of healthy individuals improved significantly over two weeks. Additional research is needed to confirm these results.
Digestive discomforts, such as bloating, flatulence, diarrhoea or constipation, are surprisingly common. More than half of the Western population frequently experience such symptoms. Only people with severe symptoms are diagnosed with a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. A recent study by Danone Research in France showed that ‘healthy’ people with GI symptoms can benefit from consumption of a probiotic yoghurt.
The tested Danone-produced yoghurt, commercially available as Activia, contains the probiotic B. lactis. "Few clinical trials have assessed the effects of probiotics in healthy populations on GI parameters," write the authors in their publication, "and most of these studies showing positive effects have investigated the effect on bowel habits in small samples." The Danone study focused on a population of 370 healthy individuals. The results appeared in the February issue of the Journal of Digestive Diseases.
Placebo effect?
During the two-week experiment, one experimental group consumed one 125 ml portion of Activia per day, the second consumed two portions, and the third kept with their normal diet. The volunteers assessed their digestive comfort by completing a questionnaire before and after the trial. At two weeks, 82.5% and 84.3% of the people in the two respective Activia groups reported improved digestive health, versus 2.9% in the control group. This difference was significant; the difference between the two Activia groups was not.
The researchers acknowledge that there may have been a placebo effect, as the control group did not consume a non-probiotic yoghurt, and the experimental groups knew that they were consuming Activia. However, the authors claim that the study was adequately controlled for its purpose, and "it was clearly not designed to compare the effect of the tested product versus a control product, which had already been done in double-blind controlled studies. This type of open design has been used in IBS trials for other probiotics."
The authors also note that a recent meta-analysis of the placebo effect in irritable bowel syndrome trials showed a mean placebo rate of 42.6%, which is not enough to explain the current results. "Also, not all the symptoms showed an improvement and the improvement was in some cases more positive for the one-portion group than for the two-portion group."
In short, the authors conclude that Activia may improve digestive comfort in a general population when consumed in real-life conditions. They state that future double-blind, randomized, controlled studies are required to confirm these beneficial effects.
More information:
Study in Journal of Digestive Diseases
Dannon Probiotics Center
«BackDanone study: probiotic yoghurt relieves digestive discomfort
Beintema, Nienke
A recent pilot study by Danone reports positive effects of daily consumption of Activia yoghurt, a Danone product containing Bifidobacterium lactis. The digestive well-being of healthy individuals improved significantly over two weeks. Additional research is needed to confirm these results.Digestive discomforts, such as bloating, flatulence, diarrhoea or constipation, are surprisingly common. More than half of the Western population frequently experience such symptoms. Only people with severe symptoms are diagnosed with a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. A recent study by Danone Research in France showed that ‘healthy’ people with GI symptoms can benefit from consumption of a probiotic yoghurt.
The tested Danone-produced yoghurt, commercially available as Activia, contains the probiotic B. lactis. "Few clinical trials have assessed the effects of probiotics in healthy populations on GI parameters," write the authors in their publication, "and most of these studies showing positive effects have investigated the effect on bowel habits in small samples." The Danone study focused on a population of 370 healthy individuals. The results appeared in the February issue of the Journal of Digestive Diseases.
Placebo effect?
During the two-week experiment, one experimental group consumed one 125 ml portion of Activia per day, the second consumed two portions, and the third kept with their normal diet. The volunteers assessed their digestive comfort by completing a questionnaire before and after the trial. At two weeks, 82.5% and 84.3% of the people in the two respective Activia groups reported improved digestive health, versus 2.9% in the control group. This difference was significant; the difference between the two Activia groups was not.
The researchers acknowledge that there may have been a placebo effect, as the control group did not consume a non-probiotic yoghurt, and the experimental groups knew that they were consuming Activia. However, the authors claim that the study was adequately controlled for its purpose, and "it was clearly not designed to compare the effect of the tested product versus a control product, which had already been done in double-blind controlled studies. This type of open design has been used in IBS trials for other probiotics."
The authors also note that a recent meta-analysis of the placebo effect in irritable bowel syndrome trials showed a mean placebo rate of 42.6%, which is not enough to explain the current results. "Also, not all the symptoms showed an improvement and the improvement was in some cases more positive for the one-portion group than for the two-portion group."
In short, the authors conclude that Activia may improve digestive comfort in a general population when consumed in real-life conditions. They state that future double-blind, randomized, controlled studies are required to confirm these beneficial effects.
More information:
Study in Journal of Digestive Diseases
Dannon Probiotics Center