Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Probiotics have been studied for both human and animal applications, and research on this topic has accelerated in recent years. The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has released a new video based on its Issue Paper, Probiotics: Their Potential to Impact Human Health, as a contribution to scientific communication on this important topic.
"To the uninitiated, the list of benefits from probiotics seems too diverse to be possible," says Task Force Chair Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders, Dairy and Food Culture Technologies, Centennial, Colorado. "But once it is understood that probiotics can impact any colonized regions of the body and that colonizing bacteria have the potential to influence the body locally and systemically, the scope of benefits can be appreciated."
The CAST publication, Issue Paper 36, describes the characteristics of probiotics, discusses what is known about the microbes that colonize humans, outlines the impacts of probiotics on human health and disease for specific conditions, and suggests future research and policy.
"This paper was written and reviewed by a task force of scientists from around the world, and two of those experts present information in the new video," says CAST Executive Vice President John M. Bonner. "CAST is pleased to present both the Issue Paper and the insightful video as a timely overview of current developments and a preview of future applications in the study of probiotics."
The full-length video and text of the paper Probiotics: Their Potential to Impact Human Health (Issue Paper No. 36) may be accessed free of charge on the CAST website at www.cast-science.org.
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) is an international consortium of scientific and professional societies, nonprofit organizations, and companies, as well as individual members. It assembles, interprets, and communicates credible science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector, and the public.
The CAST video was supported by an Unrestricted Educational Grant from:
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