Yoghurt Effective in Treating Bowel Infections

Overuse of antibiotics has led to bowel overgrowth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), which are blamed for persistent and transmissible infections.

Australian researchers realized that yoghurt could be the answer for certain types of antibiotic-resistant bowel bacteria. Those yogurts that contain probiotics were found to have a beneficial effect on human gut health by helping to restore the normal gut organisms.

The researchers decided to determine if eating yogurt regularly could help clear vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) from bowels.
Study results showed that 11 patients who regularly ate yoghurt containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) bacteria were all free of VRE within 4 weeks while almost all the 12 patients who ate standard yoghurt without LGG remained VRE-positive after 4 weeks.

The reason behind such good probiotics effects lies in the fact that LGG can survive stomach and bile acids to remain in sufficient numbers to reach the bowel. They are also resistant and susceptible to a range of antibiotics.

Patients had no adverse reactions from LGG in the study but the safety of probiotics in extremely unwell or immunocompromised is still uncertain and larger trials are needed to realize their effectiveness preventing primary infection.

I live in Perth and i have VRE i have been eating yoghurts that contain live ABC cultures for about a week ever scince i heard of this treatment but i am not sure if i am getting the correct yoguart i eat Margret river dairy yoghurt i hope it contains the correct probiotics it has the live ABC cultures, is it the one mentioned here if not could you please advise me of a yoghurt that could treat it thankyou

Hi, I am currently involved with a trial for the use of yogurt for removing VRE from the bowe. Valia is the brand of yogurt which contains the strain of probiotic that is required to clear the VRE.
Please not though that the previous trials have shown that when you stop eating the yogurt you will revert back to VRE. However this is a very good way of preventing it's transfer to others!