The Probiotics and Healthy Adult Study
The gastrointestinal status of healthy adults: a post hoc assessment of the impact of three distinct probiotics
SUMMARY
- This study with a healthy adult population assessed the impact of 3 different probiotics on the gut and daily bowel habits.
- High daily doses of all the probiotics were well tolerated.
- Gut symptoms and bowel habits were improved in a probiotic specific manner.
Aim
This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 4- arm study evaluated the impact of probiotics on the well-being of healthy volunteers.
Method
Results
Gut symptoms
- Post supplementation, there were significantly fewer gut symptoms only for the Lab4 group (Group 2, *P=0.0376, Figure 1).
- There were significantly fewer days with bloating (67.7% reduction, *P=0.0212), stomach rumbling (79.5% reduction, *P=0.0106) and stomach pain (88.2% reduction, *P=0.0267) in the Group 2 (Figure 2).
Bowel habits
• The Lab4 probiotic group (Group 2) had a reduced proportion of defecations with hard stools (#P=0.0551, Figure 3) and that “feeling of incompleteness” (#P=0.0624) implying an anti-constipation effect.
Interestingly, indicators of functional constipation were observed in 21.7% of the healthy controls and this decreased in all groups dropping to only 8.3% of the participants in Group 2 (Figure 4)
Conclusion
Healthy adults can benefit from daily probiotic intake and in this study Lab4 probiotic showed the most beneficial effects on gastrointestinal symptoms and bowel habits.
