Can Yogurt Fight Gastrointestinal Ulcers?

Recently, in a report presented on the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, it was revealed that there’s a latest yogurt which appears to have the power to fight the bacteria answerable for gastritis and stomach ulcers.

Within the report, which was based upon the results of human clinical studies, Japanese researchers claimed that ingesting the yogurt is comparable to the results of innoculation by a vaccine for each conditions.

Yogurt Facts

Yogurt, a fermented milk product, has long been known to be a healthy source of calcium, protein and various other nutrients. Currently, many brands of yogurt contain probiotics (i.e., certain forms of bacteria believed by many different and allopathic practitioners to have useful impacts on many digestive issues).

This latest type of yogurt may represent a novel approach to fighting stomach ulcers. It is maybe the newest product within the ever growing, “functional food,” market, which now generates some $60 million in annual sales. Indeed, stomach ulcers affect some 25 million people annually in the US alone.

The study’s coordinator, Hajime Hatta, a chemist at Kyoto Women’s University, in Japan, had this to say: “With this latest yogurt, people can benefit from the taste of yogurt, while stopping or eliminating the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers.”

Researchers are hopeful that the brand new yogurt, which is already available in Japan (under the name “Dr. Piro”), Korea (under the name “Gut”,) and Taiwan will soon be on the shelves in the US.

Stomach Ulcers

Most stomach ulcers are actually known to be brought on by a bacteria, referred to as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), or by overuse of aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Previously H. pylori ulcers have been effectively treated and eliminated with antibiotics and acid suppressants; nonetheless, for tens of millions of poverty-stricken people who are suffering from H. pylori ulcers, such treatments may simply be unavailable.

Research has linked childhood H. pylori-induced ulcers to more serious health problems like malnutrition and impaired growth. Scientists have long been at a loss to seek out a more economical and accessible way of treating these bacteria.

IgY-urease

Within the study, Hatta and colleagues indicate that H. pylori appears to rely on a protein referred to as urease to connect itself to and infect the liner of the stomach. The researchers used classic vaccine-creation techniques of their efforts to thwart the results of the urease protein, injecting chickens with urease, and allowing the chickens to provide antibodies to the protein. The researchers harvested the antibody, IgY-urease, from the eggs of the chickens, postulating that the consumption of yogurt containing IgY-urease might help to stop the bacteria from adhering to the liner of the stomach.

The study consisted of a gaggle of 42 people, all of whom suffered from H. pylori ulcers, who were segregated into 2 groups, one group was fed 2 cups every day of untreated yogurt and the opposite group was fed yogurt containing the antibody. At the tip of the 4-week study, urease levels within the latter group had decreased significantly.

Yogurt and Ulcers

Ultimately, although the yogurt appears to be somewhat less effective than antibiotics in treating H. pylori ulcers, it’s actually more accessible and could be eaten day-after-day. The antibody has no effect upon the taste of the yogurt.

Researchers cautioned, nonetheless, that since yogurt is a dairy product that also accommodates egg yolk, those with an allergy to dairy or eggs mustn’t devour this latest “anti-ulcer” yogurt. Moreover, unlike antibiotics, which once taken, can permanently eliminate the issue, the yogurt have to be eaten on a consistent basis. So, it could appear that unless a person wishes to avoid use of an antibiotic, it would well be more useful to partake of the everlasting solution than to commit to make use of of a product at some point of one’s lifespan.