Yogurt containing probiotic bacteria could protect children and pregnant women against heavy metal exposure.
Researchers distributed yogurt containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteria and compared outcomes with a control group, the American Society for Microbiology reported.
The researchers looked at how these microbes could protect against environmental health damage in low income regions of the world. The researchers found L. rhamnosus has the ability to bind to toxic heavy metals, preventing them from being absorbed when consumed.
Study leader Dr. Gregor Reid, from the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, has already established a network of community kitchens in Mwanza, Tanzania to produce and distribute this potentially life-saving yogurt.
This action is especially important in Mwanza because it is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, which is heavily polluted with pesticides and toxic metals such as mercury.
The L. rhamnosus-infused yogurt was distributed to a group of pregnant women and a group of children. To make their findings the researchers measured the baseline and post-yogurt levels of toxic materials.
The researchers found a "significant protective effect" of the probiotic against mercury and arsenic in the pregnant women.
"[This is important as] reduction in these compounds in the mothers could presumably decrease negative developmental effects in their fetus and newborns," Reid said.
The probiotic also appeared to have benefits in children but the small sample size and duration of the study did not allow statistical significance to be determined.
In the future the researchers hope yogurt is used as a tool for protecting against heavy metal poisoning. They also plan to look into lactobacilli with even higher mercury-sequestering properties.
The findings were published this week in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
