Probiotic fermented dairy products – food or medication?

One of the main strategies for preventing chronic diseases is a balanced diet from early childhood, with the inclusion of functional ingredients: dietary fiber, vitamins and vitamin-like compounds, minerals, polyunsaturated fatty acids, prebiotics and probiotics. A combined enrichment of fermented dairy products with prebiotics and probiotics contributes to the summation of their positive effective influence. Adding prebiotics and probiotics to the diet leads to the change in the intestinal microbiota composition towards a more balanced structure, thereby increasing the intestinal barrier function and the formation of optimal immune interactions. The most commonly used in human nutrition is a combination of bifidobacteria or lactobacilli with fructo-oligosaccharides in synbiotic products. It is important that the microorganisms are safe, stable in storage and able to survive in the gastrointestinal tract. The use of probiotic fermented dairy products has a positive impact on child health: it has anti-infectious and immunomodulatory effects, helps to normalize the gastrointestinal motility. These statements are confirmed by controlled studies in which children aged 8 to 18 months, recovering from acute respiratory disease, for which antibiotic therapy was prescribed, included in the diet drinking yoghurts enriched with Bifidobacterium lactis BB12 and inulin for 3 months. The inclusion of yoghurts in the children’s diet helped to normalize the intestinal microbiota composition after antibiotic therapy, as well as to strengthen the immune system by stimulating the synthesis of protective factors – secretory immunoglobulin A and lysozyme. Key words: fermented dairy products, child nutrition, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, inulin, microbiota, functional foods, immune system, Bifidobacterium lactis BB12