Constipation affects more than half of pregnant women but most laxatives are not suitable for mom or baby. A new study of expectant mothers found probiotics may be the answer to safe, effective relief. In addition to easing constipation, the women also had less abdominal pain and other symptoms associated with irregularity.

Study Results

The research team gave 20 pregnant women with functional constipation a daily dose of a multispecies probiotic for a period of four weeks. All of the women saw improvement within two weeks, increasing the number of bowel movements per week from an average of 3 at baseline to 7 in week two.

As an added benefit the women also experienced less abdominal pain and cramping and fewer episodes of acid reflux.

This study is good news for women who may have tried traditional lifestyle remedies such as adding more fiber to their diet and getting regular exercise but still haven’t found relief.

Then there are other benefits to taking probiotics too--like supporting your immune system.

Healthy Digestion

Of course, even with a probiotic, you’ll still want to follow these tips to keep things moving:

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat lots of fiber from whole grains, beans and fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the day.
• Prenatal vitamins or supplements containing iron can add to the problem. Speak with your doctor about dividing the dose or switching to a different formula.
• Get daily exercise--even if it is low-key walking or yoga--which helps stimulate your digestive tract.

Be Wary of Laxatives

Unless your doctor recommends a laxative that is safe for pregnant women, avoid their use if you are expecting. Many laxatives are not recommended during pregnancy as they can cause uterine contractions and may also leave you dehydrated. Even taking mineral oils (which are natural laxatives) may inhibit absorption of some important nutrients during pregnancy.

Sources:

NutraIngredients

Discovery Health

Science Daily

Linus Pauling Institute

Through research, we know that good bacteria in the gut are needed to digest food, to synthesize certain vitamins and help fend off disease-causing bacteria.

But with over 100 trillion bacteria in our bodies, we have barely scratched the surface of our understanding of the beneficial roles that microbes play in our health.  But The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) hopes to change all that.

HMP, which is being compared to the Human Genome Project that sequenced human DNA, is a collaboration of 200 scientists and 80 institutions to sequence genetic material of microbial communities found at specific sites on the human body.

Once it’s complete, we’ll know more about the bacteria that naturally coexist in or on a healthy person. This will help us understand how changes in their populations affect our health and hopefully, how to restore balance.

Not that long ago it was thought that the bacteria on our bodies where just along for the ride. And since many bacteria have adapted to live on our bodies, they didn’t always grow well in a petri dish making them difficult to study.

Advances in DNA sequencing technologies have created a new field of research, called metagenomics, allowing comprehensive examination of microbial communities, even those that are difficult to cultivate outside the body.

Little Bugs, Big Impact?

Meanwhile, other research continues to discover how microscopic hitchhikers affect our health.

One study found that the gut bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus may help us stay cool in stressful situations by reducing stress hormones and increasing GABA receptors in the brain that have a calming effect.

Another study found that the presence of Firmicutes bacterial species increase fat absorption in the gut. Therefore, an excess amount of these bacteria may play a role in weight gain.

Sources:

New York Times

The NIH Common Fund

Nutraingredients

New Hope 360

Farmers have known for some time that antibiotics can promote weight gain in livestock. New research seems to suggest that these drugs could be having the same effect on our children.

A group of researchers from New York University School of Medicine found that infants that received antibiotics before the age of 6 months were more likely to have a higher body mass index score than children who were not exposed to antibiotics.

By 38 months, the children given antibiotics were 22% more likely to be overweight than children who had not received them.

These findings were based on an analysis of health records of 11,532 children born in the town of Avon in the United Kingdom during 1991 and 1992. Other factors such as diet, physical activity and the weight of the children’s parents were factored into their assessments.

Connecting the Dots

Researchers believe that antibiotics disrupt the delicate balance of a baby’s microbiome--the trillions of microbial cells that inhabit our bodies and outnumber our own cells 10 to 1.

“Microbes in our intestines may play critical roles in how we absorb calories, and exposure to antibiotics, especially early in life, may kill off healthy bacteria that influence how we absorb nutrients into our bodies, and would otherwise keep us lean," said lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP. So while we might think of obesity as an epidemic stemming from an unhealthy diet and/or limited exercise, studies like this one suggest that the problem may be far more complicated.

Furthermore, weight isn’t the only health problem associated with changes in the microbiome. Other studies have linked microbiome damage or imbalance to inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and an impaired immune system.

Sources:

Medscape

Nurse.com

Medical News Today

We've discussed the value of probiotics, live microorganisms similar to the beneficial ones in the human gut that are contained in some foods before in this space. These are considered friendly or good bacteria.

The trick to good health is maintaining a healthy balance in all things, including bacteria. When bad bacteria outnumbers the good in your gut, however, that may signal a greater risk of colon cancer ahead, according to University of North Carolina scientists reviewing 45 samples from biopsies taken during colonoscopies.

Unfortunately, bad bacteria may be elevating a patient's colon cancer risks by generating waste products that harm colon tissues and make them more vulnerable to malignancies. By the same token, researchers say it's possible that adenomas, benign tumors that may serve as a warning sign of colon cancer, could be triggering the production of bad bacteria too.

Interestingly, you may be familiar with one group of bad bacteria, if you've been paying attention to our posts about food safety: The Proteobacteria made up of E.coli, salmonella and heliobacter, among others.

The good news: Scientists may be able to spot the signs of colon cancer faster and more accurately some day by detecting this bacterial shift from good to bad in fecal samples, than by a colonoscopy, a medical procedure many would prefer to avoid…

Image source: Nephron, GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.3

Gut Microbes, Vol. 1, No. 3, May/June 2010 Free Full PDF Study

PhysOrg.com June 22, 2010

The Suncoast News June 22, 2010