ABSTRACT
Barbara Sheil, Jane McCarthy, Liam O’Mahony, and Malik M. Anwar Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Departments of Medicine and Surgery, Microbiology, National Food Biotechnology Centre, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
Fergus Shanahan Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Departments of Medicine and Surgery, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
INTRODUCTION
Hippocrates is credited with saying: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
(1). The term “functional food” includes “any food or food ingredient that may provide a
health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains” (2). Probiotic bacteria are forms
of functional food that are of particular relevance to gastroenterologists, with evidence for
their role in the treatment of infectious and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Their putative
therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is receiving growing interest;
however, it remains unproven. The Noble laureate, Elie Metchnikoff, suggested that
bacteria could be of some benefit to the health of man (3). He suggested that the
consumption of copious amounts of fermented dairy products, which served to introduce
“beneficial” bacteria to the gastrointestinal tract, was responsible for the longevity of
Bulgarian peasants. This marked the birth of probiotics, which are live microorganisms
that, when consumed in an adequate amount, confer a health effect on the host (4).
