The health benefits of probiotics may extend to improving conditions for cancer patients, and could even lower the risk for certain cancers, research shows.
Probiotics are known to balance the digestive tract, relieving indigestion, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. These benefits could help cancer patients who suffer from digestive problems because of the disease or the side effects from treatment,
says Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
ALERT: Weird Gut Bacteria Linked to Digestion, Heart, Obesity, Brain Problems
The benefits are particularly apparent when consuming probiotics through food sources, such as yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, and artichokes.
Probiotics, known as the “good” bacteria, fight the bad bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics often used to treat cancer and other conditions can kill both good and bad bacteria.
The use of probiotics “can help combat antibiotic-associated diarrhea,” says Dr. Shauna Birdsall, director of naturopathic medicine at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America hospital in Arizona. However, probiotics may cause harmful reactions such as inflammation in some patients, so people need to work carefully with their healthcare providers when including probiotics in a treatment plan.
Probiotics reduced bowel symptoms and improved the quality of life for colorectal cancer patients, according to a study
reported in the December 2014 issue of the Digestive and Liver Disease journal.
SPECIAL: Doctor: You Can Stop Digestion Woes, Heartburn, Gas, Constipation, More
The probiotic Lacidofil was given to 28 subjects while a placebo was given to 32 participants twice a day for 12 weeks. The researchers found significant reduction of irritable bowel symptoms in the probiotics group.
“Probiotics help your immune system function at its best so it can detect and kill cells that can become cancer,” says Stephanie Maxson,
senior clinical dietitian in integrative medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Maintaining a healthy digestive tract could lower the risk for developing several cancersm but much research has focused on colon cancer because of its relationship to the intestinal tract. Patients with colon cancer have been shown to have “an unhealthy population of gut bacteria before the cancer developed,” according to several studies, Maxson says.
Doctor: Not All Probiotics Are the Same, Some Are Dangerous! Read More Here
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.