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CHILDREN'S DIGESTIVE HEALTH SERIES

Watch Dr. Vartabedian and learn about probiotic healing powers.
Probiotics and Your Child:
Nutrition with Hidden Healing Power

Presented by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D.

Probiotics are “good bacteria,” similar to the live microorganisms found in the human stomach. Available in foods and dietary supplements, probiotics have been shown to aid in the digestive process and relieve symptoms of diarrhea, eczema, ulcerative colitis and colic.

A human can take in probiotics through foods like yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut, kefir and poi, or through supplements. Since different “bugs” treat different symptoms and vary in their ability to fight certain infections, you should consult your physician before supplementing your child's diet.

Dairy foods that contain probiotics include:

FOOD

PORTION

PROBIOTIC SERVING

Yogurt with live bacteria

6-8 ounces

3-10 billion bacteria

Frozen yogurt with bacteria

4 ounces

1-3 billion bacteria

Probitic 'shots'

3-4 ounces

3-10 billion bacteria

Kefir

8 ounces

3-10 billion bacteria

Examples of quality supplement sources of probiotics:

SUPPLEMENT SOURCE

PROBIOTIC AMOUNT

Biogia (Lactobacillus reuteri)

100 million colony forming units (CFU) per packet

Florastor (Sarchamyces boulardii)

5 billion CFU per capsule

VSL3 (Bifidobacterium breve, B. longum, B. infantis, Lactobacillus acidolphilus, L. pantarum, L. casei, L. bulgaricus, Steptococcus thermopilus)

450 billion CFU per packet

Culturelle (L. rhamnosus GG)

10 billion CFU per packet

Jarrow-dophilus (Lactobacillus rhamnosus, L. casei, L. acidophilus, L. plantarum, Bifidobacterium longum, B. breve)

3.4 billion CFU per packet

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 Video

 

 

 

Watch Dr. Vartabedian's presentation on probiotics
(55 mins)

Download a handout to follow the video presentation  
 

In addition to his work with Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Vartabedian is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in both general pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition.  He has written for American Baby and Parenting magazines on children’s health issues and authored one of the best known guides on colic called Colic Solved: The Essential Guide to Infant Reflux and the Care of Your Screaming, Difficult-to-Soothe Baby, published by Ballantine/Random House in 2007.  To learn more about Dr. Vartabedian, visit his blog, 33 Charts.