Probiotics benefits are affected by the foods with which they are consumed.

Dairy products can boost the health benefits of probiotics, a new study finds.

Dr Maria Marco, one of the study’s authors, said:

“Our findings indicate that the manner in which a probiotic is delivered — whether in food or supplement form — could influence how effective that probiotic is in delivering the desired health benefits.”

The researchers  studied a probiotic strain known as Lactobacillus casei BL23 in mice with inflammation of the colon (colitis).

The symptoms of this disease reduced in mice when they ingested the probiotic in milk compared to without milk.

The gut microbiota were also studied before and after ingestion of L. casei (Lactobacillus casei).

Dr Marco said:

“Strains of L. casei are commonly added to dairy products as probiotics and, while strain BL23 is not commercially available, it is genetically similar to commercial strains and has also been studied for its capacity to prevent or reduce intestinal inflammation.”

The study might explain why dairy products are the most popular food environment for many different probiotics.

The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology (Lee et al., 2015).

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