(09/08)

Research from the Mecedonioi Melloni Hospital in Milan, and the Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam suggests that supplementation with prebiotics – a mixture of neutral short-chain galactooligosaccharides (scGOS) and long-chain fructooligosaccharides (lcFOS) – during the first six months of life not only protects infants during this period but for a two year period thereafter. Whereas 10.5% of the infants in the placebo group suffered recurrent wheezing and allergic urticaria only 1.5% of children in the supplemented group did so. The suppemented group also had fewer upper respiratory tract infections and needed fewer antibiotic prescriptions although growth was similar in both groups. The researchers suggest that it may be the modulating effect of the prebiotics on their intestinal flora which is providing the protection.
American Society for Nutrition J. Nutr. 138:1091-1095, June 2008

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