Please answer original forum with a minimum of 300 words 

Respond to both students on separate pages with a minimum of 100 wlords each

please Follow directioma or I will dispute 

page1- Original Forum with References 

page2- Jennifer Response 

page3- Cristina Response 

Original Forum

We have all heard about the variety of foods that claim to improve our health in some way or another. Of keen interest is to improve our immune system by consuming certain foods. A key term that has come into use is Probiotics. Yogurt, especially those that state, active live cultures, claim to boost our immune system but are these claims true? Are the advertising and marketing of these products true to their claims?

Immunity is not a single or simple process but a complex and ever changing system. In order to better understand what or if super foods exist that could potentially improve immunity, it is necessary to address what part of the immune system these foods might exert any effect. Is it possible to eat a food or foods that enhance our immunity? Are there any scholarly studies to support such claims? 

Review Chapters 17 and 18 of your textbook for a review of Innate and Adaptive Host Defenses. 

And then visit Harvard Health Publications
 

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 

For this forum, choose ONE of the following products. Each of them claim they are probiotic. Do some research on it to determine if it has any scientific validity or if the probiotic key word is a marketing strategy used to get attention and boost sales.

Choose only ONE

Topic 1. Activia- Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2010/12/dannon-agrees-drop-exaggerated-health-claims-activia-yogurt

Topic 2. Kimchi- Does kimchi Lactobacilli survive the stomach acid? http://aem.asm.org/content/71/6/3060.full

Topic 3. Kefir- Frontiers in Microbiology http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26579086

Compose prose to address the following questions;
 

-What part of immunity or our immune system might probiotics exert an effect, if any?

-Explain the proposed mechanism(s) of how probiotics work?

-Does one have to buy a special brand of the products for it to work?

-You only chose one of the topics, but what is the common denominator from all of them (it's a microbe)?

Student Responses

Jennifer 

Hello everyone,

Growing up my dad would always take a probiotic pill saying it promotes good health. I went to a nutrition store in town called 5Star nutrition and they gave me the whole probiotics are good for you and I bought a package of the pill form. All I can say is it helped me used the bathroom better. 

Probiotics are said to contain a live microbial feed that balances the microbial bacteria in the intestines. 

I find it wild that up to 500 million species of bacteria may be in the large intestine at any point in time. With that being said, probiotics enhance host defense mechanisms. This means that stabilizing microflora, a bacteria that develops after birth will allow the immune system to have a better chance at fighting off harmful pathogens.

You can buy probiotics in “pearl” pill form or in the form of food. I have heard that yogurt cleanses the body and is a good probiotic, but after reading about Activia’s lack of proof showing that their yogurt is a probiotic, I wonder what other companies lie about food and the benefits for you. 

Before this forum I had not heard of the health benefits of Kimchi or Kefir and what they use to convey their health benefits. No matter if it is Activia, Kimchi, or Kefir studies show that the corresponding microbe enhances health benefits for the digestive system. I chose to read more in-depth about Activia and the misinformation they advertised to the public. They advertised what the public wanted to hear; that there is this delicious product that improves your health, so buy it by the cases. This proved to be very false as told by the Federal Trade Commission. 

Works Cited

E., Y., P., H., S., & S. (2001, February 01). Probiotics: Effects on immunity. Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/73/2/444s/4737576

Dannon Agrees to Drop Exaggerated Health Claims for Activia Yogurt and DanActive Dairy Drink. (2013, September 30). Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2010/12/dannon-agrees-drop-exaggerated-health-claims-activia-yogurt

Cristina 

Some bacteria are able to survive the acidic environment in our stomachs with a protective shield around them, foods like Activia claim to contain this bacterium.  When digested, the majority of probiotics result in in the colon.  Inside of the colon is microbiome, colonies of bacteria, fungi viruses, and archaea which inhibit the environment; this collection of bacteria is essential in order to extract nutrients from foods.  “Bifidobacterium spp. constitute a substantial part of the human gut microbiota and are frequently used as probiotics and in yogurt production” (Foster, Lister, Parker, Schneegurt, Thi Tu, 2016.).  These strains are considered good bacteria and continue to survive through the digestive system, clearing out bad bacteria that may pose a risk to our bodies. 

            However, your environment is constantly changing, probiotics are being consumed and may little effects on the individual.  False accusations of products that contain probiotics have agreed to no longer support their claims; “the FTC charged that Dannon’s ads were deceptive because it did not have substantiation for its claims” (Dannon Agrees to Drop Exaggerated Health Claims, 2010).  Recent research still does not provide accurate information for companies to make claims of the proven facts on how probiotics help an individual. 

            In general, intestinal inflammation is a result of an imbalance of intestinal microflora, creating irregularity; microflora contributes to processing food antigens in the gut, an imbalance causes digestive issues for individuals.  Probiotics can positively affect immune regulation specifically by controlling of the balance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, this can be affective by regulating what is consumed.  Focusing on fiber rich foods, or prebiotics are what is essential for probiotics to be effective. 

References:

Dannon Agrees to Drop Exaggerated Health Claims for Activia Yogurt and DanActive Dairy Drink (15 Dec 2010). Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved October 29, 2018 from https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2010/12/dannon-agrees-drop-exaggerated-health-claims-activia-yogurt

Foster, B., Lister, P., Parker, N., Schneegurt, M., Thi Tu, A., (2016). Microbiology. OpenStax. Houston, TX. 1-947172-23-9

Arvilommi, H., Isolauri, E., Kankaanpää, P., Salminen, S., Sütas, Y. (2001). Probiotics: Effects on immunity. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 73( 2). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/73.2.444s