Friday, 04 December 2009
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Japanese vs. Western Probiotic Yogurt Drinks
I recently completed my term projects on the use of probiotics on diverticular disease. Probiotics are good bacteria that help improve your digestive system. Probiotics was a really popular topic amongst my classmates! However, I felt that a lot of them just kind of recommended probiotics in general, which is not specific enough because there are hundreds of different probiotic bacteria strains!After much research, I decided to recommend Lactobacillus casei due to its ability to increase the gut's mucosal defense (1) and its high resistance to stomach acids and bile salts. A lot of probiotics get killed before they can reach your gut. Your body's digestive system wants to be defensive and kill harmful bacteria, but the extreme environments can also kill the good bacteria! It is shown in studies that L. casei on the other hand, is able to survive and reach the gut and end up in your poop (2).
I found it really interesting that L. casei Shirota is found in Yakult, a drink that I absolutely loved in my childhood! Yakult is a Japanese probiotic drink that has a sweet milk consistency. It is very popular throughout Asia and I can usually find these drinks in Asian supermarkets throughout Canada. For more information on Yakult, see the USA site for more information and store locations.
With the popularity of Yakult reaching Europe and North America, other companies started to take notice in the L. casei bacteria strain. Dannon recently launched a similar probiotic yogurt drink in Canada called DanActive that contains L. casei strain DN-114-001. Most yogurts contain two probiotic cultures (usually Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus). DanActive contains both these bacteria cultures plus L. casei.I brought samples of both probiotic drinks to my presentation and had my classmates try them. Both were really well liked and my classmates thought they tasted great.
Each bottle of Yakult claims to contain around 8 billion L. casei bacteria while DanActive claims to contain up to 10 billion active bacteria. I was able to find more evidence supporting the health benefits of DanActive; however, I still really love the taste of yakult!
To understand more on the sugar content and controversy of Hong Kong Yakult, read my next post here.
References:
1. Tursi A, Brandimarte G, Giorgetti GM, Elisei W. Mesalazine and/or Lactobacillus casei in maintaining long-term remission of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon. Hepatogastroenterology. 2008;55:916-920.
2. Oozeer R, Leplingard A, Mater D, Mogenet A, Michelin R, Seksek I, et al. Survival of Lactobacillus casei in the human digestive tract after consumption of fermented milk. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006;72:5615-5617.
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Comments (34)
Aw I miss drinking those tiny Yakult. Stupid lactose problem -_-
aw, i remember Yakults!
OMGOSH. Thank you for giving me a reason to treat myself to Yakult from now on. :]
Haha I love Yakult as well <3
@Roadlesstaken - Yeah I'm allergic to dairy, always wanted to try it too =( heh.
I've found Yakult in my Safeway, but when my roommate's ex lived here, they bought it a couple times. I find the stuff disgusting, and remember there was something in its ingredient list I didn't like (HFCS maybe?). The whole probiotic thing is rather new from the nutrition studies I had years ago. This is all rather new and important information. I'll keep my eye out for this L. casei.
i'm vegan but this is very informative :)
@bryangoodrich - I've heard of some other people not liking the taste too! I guess it is acquired taste.
They have it in Korea, too. To me, it tastes like liquid gummy bears.
@bryangoodrich - It might just be the after taste of the drink. I usually have to drink water to wash the taste out too, haha. I love that stuff though.
In HK, they actually sell cold lemon Yakult now. I so wanted to try it, but only found out about it on the last day I was there last month.
ha..i didn't know Yakult was good for us! yay!!!
@yelly - Oh that's cool I will definitely look for lemon flavor next time I am in HK! I saw different flavored Yakults while I was researching this. this blogger said that orange, grape, and green apple flavor can be found in Singapore:
http://www.kitchencow.com/2009/02/01/i-love-you-yakult/
yeah, true, but the fact that Yakult contains 18g of sugar per 100g, that's just way too much sugar, and that isn't healthy.
Mhmm yakult <3
@y_tc - just keep in mind tho that these probiotic drinks are not consumed in sizes like pop cans and pop bottles :)
They are really teeny tiny bottles... Around 65-80mL? And packed with billions of good bacteria.
The actual sugar content on the US website comes out to about 11g per bottle. Per 100g, soda pop has less sugar, but pepsi is consumed in larger amounts. 250mL of pepsi comes to around 27g of sugar. But I can see your concerns about sugar content and how this can be a concern for those at risk for diabetes or who already have diabetes.
http://www.yakultusa.com/Yakult/YakultNutrition.php
@Roadlesstaken - I read that yogurts are usually well-tolerated for those with lactose intolerance since the probiotic bacteria already starts to break down the lactose. Lactose-intolerance is a very common problem tho. Must be frustrating!
Ive tried yakults before, and I remember not liking the taste at all. If I remember correctly, it was the sour taste I didnt like. and wow 18g of sugar in that teeny tiny bottle, that's almost the amount of sugar in half a can of coke.
nice little touch with the references, feels like school.
@timestill - 11g per bottle. see my reply comment above :) it's misleading when manufacturers go by "per 100g", because not all foods are consumed in 100g!
oh and the references were easy to put in coz i just took them from my essay :P otherwise, i might be too lazy to do it
this is really interesting! we eat a lot of yogurt around here - i love it, the baby loves it, and it is so good for you. but i didn't know there were different kinds of bacteria. i'll remember that!
@i_Nutrition - Yeah, I didn't get to try all those flavors when I was in S'pore last month too ><
and whay I meant by lemon Yakult is that they make it like lemon tea, HK style.
I love Yakult! My nieces & nephew love it too, thanks for this post, very helpful! =)
Yakult does taste amazing. You can get generic brands for much cheaper.
I've heard that Yakult is really bad for your teeth though...
I think in China it's sold as "yang le duo"
Did you know recent studies in Hong Kong have concluded that a mini bottle of Yakult contains more than 8 spoons of sugar? I guess Yakult isn't as healthy after all.