The Probiotics Institute by Chr. Hansen Inc.

08/20/2021

Are you interested in learning more about how probiotics may be used for vulnerable populations?
In the podcast below you can listen to Gregory Leyer, PhD, Senior Director of Scientific Affairs at Chr. Hansen, talking with NutraIngredients-USA.com about probiotics for infants, the importance of safety and what extra steps Chr. Hansen Human Health takes when producing products for infants.

The number of preemies receiving probiotics in the US and Canada is increasing steadily, but skeptics say there is potential for harm in this vulnerable population. Greg Leyer, PhD, the Senior Director of Scientific Affairs, at Chr. Hansen says if done correctly, dietary supplements—including prob...

08/02/2021

It is World Breastfeeding Week!
Babies need lots of bifidobacteria in their gut to support healthy development and their future health. Much of the good bacteria that a baby needs comes from their Mom, and breastfeeding is one of the important ways that the baby receives these bacteria.

Studies have even suggested an association between breastfeeding mothers who consume the LGG® probiotic bacteria and the risk of developing eczema in babies, compared to breastfeeding mothers who consumed a placebo.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3ig6vgp

Our gut contains many different types of bacteria, and this collection of bacteria is called the gut microbiome. From the moment we are born, the different types and amounts of bacteria are very important for our health, not only as babies but throughout our lives. This is because the composition of...

07/27/2021

Does your baby or young child experience episodes of diarrhea?
Don’t worry, occasional diarrhea in infants and young children is quite common. In fact, each child under three years of age will have at least one episode of sudden-onset diarrhea each year.

Diarrhea is typically broken into three categories, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, hospital-acquired diarrhea, and sudden-onset diarrhea (i.e. diarrhea with no apparent cause).

Consuming the LGG® probiotic strain has been associated with shorter episodes of diarrhea and a more rapid improvement in symptoms.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3erjtGY

Supplementation with probiotic products, such as those containing the Lactobacillus rhamnosus, LGG® strain, may have beneficial effects on occasional sudden-onset, antibiotic-associated and hospital-acquired diarrhea.

07/20/2021

Our scientists are always working hard to discover and understand the benefits that probiotic bacteria can have for our health. One of our busy scientists is Silvia Lopez. Here you see Silvia investigating the effect of the LGG® probiotic strain on cells derived from a human colon. We always thoroughly characterize our probiotics in the lab before we study them in people. You can read more about the LGG® strain here: https://bit.ly/3idoTX8

07/14/2021

With a world of information available at our fingertips, it can be difficult to sort the facts and accurate information from the myths and undocumented advice. This is certainly true for probiotics.

It’s not easy to figure out how many different types/strains of bacteria you should take, whether you need a specific bacteria for a specific health benefit, or if all fermented foods contain probiotic bacteria.

If you find the world of probiotics difficult to navigate, read more about probiotics and some common myths and misconceptions here: https://bit.ly/2T8TvAy

06/27/2021

It’s the 27th of June which means it’s World Microbiome Day.
We all have a microbiome. Actually, we all have several microbiomes. The largest is our gut microbiome – it is the totality of all of the microbes (bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi) living in our gastrointestinal tract… and also all of their genetic material!

Some of these microbes are potentially harmful but many are helpful and their presence and actions have positive effects. When the proportions of these different microbes are well balanced, they benefit our health in many ways such as supporting our immune system.

Factors like stress, poor diet and infection can disturb this balance which can negatively impact our health.

The microbiome changes as we grow older which affects the benefits it can have for health. Visit The Probiotics Institute by Chr. Hansen to learn more: https://bit.ly/3deHbFS

06/24/2021

Did you know that probiotic bacteria must be alive when consumed to confer a health benefit?
🔬 Since probiotic bacteria are living microorganisms, they naturally die over time.
🔬 The number of live bacteria in a probiotic product at the end of its shelf life is more important than the number in the product on the date of manufacture.
Learn more about probiotics here: https://bit.ly/3gPhMoe

Probiotics are live bacteria that are associated with specific health benefits when consumed in the right amounts. To be classified as a probiotic, products must contain live bacteria, they must have health benefits that are supported in human studies, and they must have an established level of use....

06/14/2021

Did you know that consuming probiotics can have economic benefits?

Results from a recent health-economics study suggested that if everyone living in America consumed specific probiotics, 54 million sick days could be avoided each year!

This would reduce productivity loss and could amount to a saving of $919 million each year.
Read more here:

Results from a high-quality study suggest that taking probiotics might help reduce the costs associated with flu-like sickness. In the US alone, consumption of probiotics was associated with reducing the number of sick days by over 54 million days per year.

06/09/2021

The type of bacteria present in a baby’s gut can influence their current and future health. Ideally, a baby’s gut microbiota is dominated by species of bifidobacteria.

During pregnancy, the amount of bifidobacteria in the mother’s microbiota increases and some of these beneficial bacteria are then transferred to the baby during vaginal birth.

When a baby is born by cesarean, they may not necessarily receive these helpful bifidobacteria - lower numbers of bifidobacteria are associated with excessive crying and fussing, allergy symptoms and obesity later in life.

The BB-12® probiotic strain is a type of bifidobacteria and has been linked to increasing the amount of bifidobacteria in a baby’s gut and to reducing the incidence of excessive crying and fussing. This means babies born by c-section may benefit from being supplemented with the BB-12® probiotic.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3z9uRjD

Being born by cesarean or being exposed to antibiotics can disrupt the ideal balance of bacteria in the gut of babies (the gut microbiota). This can result in less bifidobacteria – a bacteria that is important in early life. Giving babies probiotics that contain bifidobacteria may help balance the...

05/29/2021

Today, May 29th, the world celebrates World Digestive Health Day! At Chr. Hansen, we recognize the importance of digestive health and conduct a lot of scientific research to learn how we can best support digestive and gut health with probiotic bacteria.

In clinical studies, our different strains have demonstrated benefits for those experiencing antibiotic diarrhea, traveler’s diarrhea, constipation, and diarrhea in children.

Read more about our probiotic strains and their support for gut health here: https://bit.ly/3fOKIeq

05/14/2021

Happy Friday! If you haven’t already listened to the Abbott Nutrition Health Institute - ANHI podcast episode “Understanding probiotics and their different modes of action in the infant microbiome”, we suggest you add that to your to-do list for the weekend.

“You're born with a blank canvas. The microbiome is the bacteria that live in and on you ... I would say, is gastro-intestinal microbiome, and that really is seeded from birth usually, where you get your first inoculations or introductions to bacteria and then it develops from there.”

- Dr. Adam Baker, Director of Science, Human Health, Chr. Hansen in the ANHI's podcast episode

Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3tOm2rg

In this 21-minute podcast episode, Adam Baker, PhD, and Karyn Wulf, MD, discuss the modes of action for various probiotic strains, and how Chr. Hansen’s scientists research and identify the best probiotic strains for the developing infant microbiome.

05/12/2021

Did you know that, worldwide, up to 25% of babies under three months excessively cry and fuss?
Bifidobacteria are usually the dominant bacteria in a baby’s gut, and it has been suggested that an imbalance of these gut bacteria may contribute to digestive discomfort and resultant excessive crying and fussing.

In a scientific study, babies who excessively cried and fussed were supplemented with Bifidobacterium, BB-12® strain or a placebo.
By the end of the study, the babies given the BB-12® strain had an improved balance of bacteria in their gut and appeared to cry and fuss significantly less than the babies given a placebo.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3obsqYL

Unfortunately, excessive crying and fussing is common in babies and often leads to frustration and sleepless nights for parents. Digestive upset can cause this excessive crying and fussing, which may be due to an imbalance in the variety of bacteria present in babies’ digestive systems. Bifidobact...