Daily use of a variety of lactic acid bacteria helps prevent obesity and reduce the body's low-level inflammation, according to a release by Lund University in Sweden.
The study, examining flora named Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL19 in rats, also found that the rats had a richer and better composition of bacteria occurring naturally in the intestines.
A second Lund study examined the first feces of newborns, finding they had lactobacilli in their gut flora as early as two days after birth.
In a third study, infants with allergic eczema at the age of 18 months had a lower diversity in the gut flora when they were just one week old, compared with other infants that age.
Read the Lund University report on obesity.
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