A History of Probiotics
 Probiotics have been used for centuries. Eli Metchnikoff, a Russian scientist, first observed the positive role that certain bacteria played in the gut. While working as a professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1907, he suggested that the aging process is a result of putrefactive or proteolytic microbes in the large bowel. Metchnikoff believed that the physical changes that we associate with old age were caused by a process he called "intestinal auto-intoxication". Metchnikoff also observed that certain rural populations in Europe, who lived largely on milk fermented by lactic-acid bacteria were exceptionally long lived. Based on these facts, Metchnikoff proposed that consumption of fermented milk would decrease the intestinal pH and that this would suppress the growth of proteolytic bacteria. He subsequently introduced a diet of sour milk fermented with bacteria that he called "Bulgarian Bacillus". Finding that Metchnikoff's health benefited, his friends in Paris soon followed his example.
Henry Tissier, who also worked at the Pasteur Institute, isolated a bacterium later named Bifidobacterium bifidum. Tissier found that bifidobacteria were dominant in the intestines of breast-fed babies. He reported clinical benefits from treating diarrhea in infants with bifidobacteria.
After Metchnikoff’s death in 1916, the study of good bacteria seemed to lag. It wasn't until 1953 that the term "probiotics" was first introduced. In the following decades several intestinal lactic acid bacterial species with alleged health beneficial properties have been introduced as probiotics.
It took some time for doctors to grasp that, when antibiotics were given, they destroyed the beneficial bacteria as well as the harmful, thus making the body more prone to secondary infections. Later, doctors came to realize that taking probiotics keeps the intestinal flora in proper balance.
Today scientist continue to study probiotics. These good microbes are being utilized in a wide variety of applications, including but not limited to:
• Reducing allergens caused by dust mites.
• Cleaning surfaces by breaking down the biofilm that traps bacteria.
• Providing an antagonistic environment for pathogens. Normalizing beneficial organisms.
• Bolstering the immune system.
• Restoring normal bacterial flora on unhealthy skin.
• Decreasing the incidence and duration of diarrhea.
• Demonstrating anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic, and anti-allergic properties.
• Helping alleviate food, chemical, and/or environmental sensitivities.
• Improving digestion and balancing cholesterol metabolism.
• Influencing better intestinal and urogenital flora.
• Maintaining mucosal integrity.
• Preventing and reducing intestinal tract infections, including those caused by bacteria or viruses.
• Promoting a feeling of well-being.
• Regulating gut motility, thereby reducing such conditions as constipation.
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