The report points out that respiratory infections are the most common infections in children, with acute respiratory infections representing 30–40% of medical consultations and 20–30% of hospitalizations worldwide, citing the World Health Organization.
Acute gastrointestinal infections come in second as the most common infections in children. Furthermore, infectious diarrhea ranks eighth as the most common cause of morbidity worldwide, with 1.4 million deaths in 2015, and the second most common cause of morbidity in developing countries, with 57.2 million deaths. The most common symptoms of GITI include diarrhea, constipation, intestinal inflammation, and vomiting (WHO).
With these two types of infections in mind, researchers studied 80 healthy school-aged children in Mexico in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The children, ages 6-8, received a flavored water containing either GanedenBC30 (1 billion CFU ) or a placebo, daily for 12 weeks.
Key Findings
The research found that supplementation with GanedenBC30 significantly reduced flatulence and suggested a positive effect on stool consistency. It also found that the probiotic significantly decreased the incidence of URTI symptoms, such as nasal congestion, bloody nasal mucus, itchy nose and hoarseness, and the duration of hoarseness, headache, red eyes, and fatigue.
Don Cox, R&D Director for Kerry’s ProActive Health Division, the makers of GanedenBC30, said “While there is already a large body of evidence for the digestive and immune health benefits of GanedenBC30, this research is particularly exciting because it is the first to focus on children, and shows the enormous potential of GanedenBC30 as a functional ingredient in products for kids.”
The study data reported that GanedenBC30 may have the ability to modulate the immune response, based on beneficial effects on URTI and GI symptoms. Previous studies have shown that GanedenBC30 can reduce gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with post-prandial intestinal gas-related symptoms, and improves pain and bloating in IBS sufferers.
GanedenBC30 is the trademarked brand name of the bacterial strain, Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086. The probiotic ingredient is in many foods and beverages and aids digestive as well as immune health when taken daily.
According to the makers of the probiotic, it’s a shelf-stable, science-backed probiotic strain that has been shown to provide digestive health, immune health and protein utilization benefits. The company says unlike most other probiotic strains, GanedenBC30 is a spore-former, making it highly stable and allowing it to remain viable throughout most manufacturing processes . They add that the spore safeguards the probiotic from heat, cold and pressure of manufacturing processes, allowing for stability during the product shelf life and protects the cells from the acid and bile they are exposed to during transit through the digestive system. Once it is safely inside the small intestine, they claim the probiotic germinates and colonizes to provide benefits.
“We are committed to driving forward probiotic innovation through science and helping meet the demand for high-quality ingredients, substantiated by high-quality research,” continued Cox. “These latest findings support our ongoing efforts to provide an efficacious probiotic ingredient that can withstand harsh manufacturing processes and conditions in the body.”
Source: Food Research International Volume 125, November 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108567 ‘Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6068 decreases upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract symptoms in healthy Mexican scholar-aged children by modulating immune-related proteins’ Anaya-Loyola, M.A. et al.