Probiotics: Nature's Internal Healers

Rating:
Summary: Good on probiotics, not good otherwise
Review: Easy to read, usually clear, with many references (but not numbered) and an index, this book gives a complete story of the development of friendly bacteria (probiotics) as oral supplements. There is a large section on specific treatment of many conditions, from antibiotic side-effects, to yeast infections, to Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, radiation damage, and many others for which probiotics may be the best or only effective treatment.

The usual "prescription" is to take by mouth gelatin capsules or powder stirred into water containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. bulgaricus and Bifidobacterium bifidum of particular strains found most effective. While the author's company, Natren, is barely mentioned in the book, the instructions on how to select the best commercial probiotic products point to the Natren products, which are also considered by others to be among the best.

Unfortunately, most diet advice, while common, is at odds with actual scientific findings. Trenev's recommendations are to eat a diet that provides 60% of its energy from complex carbohydrates (p31). Avoiding animal products is encouraged repeatedly backed up only by unsupported rationale on "putrefaction" of such foods in our digestive systems. The fact is that a meta-analysis of 24 diet trials on low-fat low-cholesterol diets showed that here was no significant effect of these diets on either coronary artery disease or total mortality (Garber, 1996; Ravnskov 1998).

Recommending low-fat diets to diabetics (p169) is especially destructive, since fats do not raise blood sugar or insulin levels at all (Bernstein, 2003).

The recommendation for breast milk was good.

Stating that there is no known cause for Crohn's disease (p163) ignores a great deal of evidence that this, celiac disease, colitis and other conditions are caused by food allergies, especially to the proteins in the whole grains that Trenev recommends so strongly (Eades, 2000; Braly, 2002; Smith, 2002). People should be tested for these allergies and avoid the offending foods, using probiotics only if this fails.

One does not have to drink milk or yogurt to get enough calcium (p42); it is present in cheeses, sardines, and some in all vegetables and nuts. Trenev promotes dairy products their vitamin B12 content, avoiding the fact that meat, fish and eggs are the best sources (McCully, 2000).

A number of other errors do no credit to this author: 60,000-100,000 pounds is not 30,000-50,000 tons (p27). Description of a double-blind study was incorrect (p80). A pH of 5-6 is not alkaline (p84). Description of freeze-drying is not quite correct (p124). Caprylic acid is not hexanoic acid, but the 8-carbon octanoic acid (156). Fructooligosaccharides occur naturally and are also made enzymatically as food additives, not chemically, and are safe in general (deMan, 1999).

Reader beware - much good advice on probiotics in this book, but watch out for the rest.



Bernstein, Richard K., Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, Rev., Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 2003.

James Braly, MD & Ron Hoggan, MA. Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May be Hazardous to Your Health, New York, NY:Avery/Penguin Putnam, 2002.

deMan, John M., Principles of Food Chemistry, 3rd ed., Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen, 1999.

Michael R. Eades, MD & Mary Dan Eades, MD. The ProteinPower LifePlan, New York, NY:Warner Books, 2000.

Garber AM, Browner WS, Hulley SB (1996). Cholesterol Screening in Asymptomatic Adults, Revisited. Annals of Internal Medicine 124:518-531.

Kilmer S. McCully, PhD, MD & Martha McCully, The Heart Revolution: The Extraordinary Discovery that Finally Laid the Cholesterol Myth to Rest, New York, NY: Perennial/Harper Collins, 2000.

Ravnskov, U. (1998). The Questionable Role of Saturated and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Cardiovascular Disease. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 51, 443-60.

Melissa Diane Smith, Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health, Chicago, IL:Contemporary Books, 2002.

Rating:
Summary: Well written book on the subject
Review: I looks much like the previous book she wrote. I would like to have seen more details on the research and the production of the probiotics. The first part is devoted to the digestive system,nutrition, microbiology and probiotic supplements. She focusses on the quality of the probiotics available. The second part is about treating disorders with probiotics. Not only gasto-intestinal disorders are discussed. It's an easy to read book on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I'm just getting started on Kefir making, and this book, although it discusses yogurt is impecable! It is also very easy to read. It not only explains probiotics, but why they are so important. It also talks about why the stuff in the store is pretty much a barren product. Great Job!!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I'm just getting started on Kefir making, and this book, although it discusses yogurt is impecable! It is also very easy to read. It not only explains probiotics, but why they are so important. It also talks about why the stuff in the store is pretty much a barren product. Great Job!!!

Rating:
Summary: not completely unbiased information,still some good info
Review: The author outlines some theories and applications about probiotics that can be applicable to a broad range of diseases.She provided a section called picking the best probiotic supplements. In this section the book centers around her own products without explicitly saying so.For example she says buy a product without fos in an oil matrix carrier thats approved by this and this agency knowing quite well that only her own brand name product follows all those specifications.Trenev why not just go out and say it "buy natren my product is the best".A little deceptive in my opinion.Nevertheless this book is cheap and provides the layman with some good info to get started on a probiotic regimen.This book is somewhat outdated but there are little if any other major books on the subject.