probiotics

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probiotics Preparations of live micro‐organisms added to food (or used as animal feed), claimed to be beneficial to health by restoring microbial balance in the intestine. The organisms commonly involved are lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, streptococci, and some yeasts and moulds, alone or as mixtures. The idea that friendly bacteria in yogurt will crowd out pathogenic organisms originally propounded by Russian‐French bacteriologist Ilya Metchnikoff (1845–1916) in The Prolongation of Life (1907). See also prebiotics.

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probiotics

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