In a recent study by the The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston researchers said they believe they may know what causes colic in babies. Anyone who has experienced a colicky baby will tell you that it is very difficult and upsetting, for both the baby and the parent. Colic is usually defined as severe, persistent crying for no apparent reason. Apparently as many as 15% of all newborns suffer from this condition.
Babies in the study were both breast-fed and bottle-fed which seems to indicate that the previously held assumption that breast-fed babies were less likely to suffer from colic is untrue. The suspected culprit at this point is a bacteria called Klebsiella. Another interesting fact is that according to J. Marc Rhodes, the lead investigator, “During our study, we also found that the babies that didn’t have colic had more types of bacteria in their intestines. The presence of more bacteria may indicate that specific bacterial species (phylotypes) are beneficial to humans,” Plans are underway for an adult study to look at probiotics.
While further study is needed it does seem reasonable to assume (as many holistic practitioners do) that simply taking one type of probiotic, the most common being acidophilus, does not adequately serve the function of our gut. If you eat yogurt, kefir or other fermented foods you may want to consider those products that have more than one strain of beneficial bacteria.
photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crying_baby.jpg