3 questions to learn if your baby's gut is healthy.
Evivo baby probiotic is the result of over a decade of research and clinical trials at The University of California Medical Center. Our breakthrough findings about the baby gut microbiome and infant probiotics are covered in well-respected publications around the world.
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Li Ka Shing Foundation back the Evivo mission to restore the infant gut microbiome.
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Evivo was created by world-renowned experts in the infant gut microbiome and its critical interaction with human breast milk. Their research and clinical trials at The University of California spanned more than a decade. These scientists discovered that the nutrients in breast milk have evolved over millions of years to become the perfect nutrition for B. infantis, the key good gut bacteria for babies.
“The Infant Microbiota and Probiotic Intake (IMPRINT) Study: Safety and Tolerability of Consuming Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis in Exclusively Breastfed Term Infants”.
By Kristin Lawless, New York Times Op-Ed Contributor | June 17, 2018
We may be missing the key to one of the biggest boons to public health since the introduction of iodine into the food supply in 1924.
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found that a strain of bacteria called B. infantis that is thought to have been the dominant bacterium in the infant gut for all of human history is disappearing from the Western world. According to their research, this was probably caused by the rise in cesarean births, the overuse of antibiotics and the use of infant formula in place of breast milk.
Indeed, nine out of 10 American babies don’t harbor this bacterium in their gut, while researchers suspect that the majority of infants in less industrialized countries do.
Bruce German, a professor of food science and technology and one of the U.C. Davis researchers, says, “The central benefits of having a microbiota dominated by B. infantis is that it crowds all the other guys out” — especially pathogenic bacteria, which can cause both acute illnesses and chronic inflammation that leads to disease.
Studies suggest that by the time babies without B. infantis are children, they are more likely to have allergies and Type 1 diabetes and more likely to be overweight. This change to the infant gut may be at the root of the rising prevalence of diseases and ailments, from allergies to certain cancers.
Dr. German and his colleagues learned about the missing bacterium by studying breast milk. They found that the milk contains an abundance of oligosaccharides, carbohydrates that babies are incapable of digesting. Why would they be there if babies can’t digest them?
They realized that these carbohydrates weren’t feeding the baby — they were feeding B. infantis.
What can new mothers do to ensure that their babies have this beneficial bacterium? At the moment, nothing.
If you live in the industrialized world, you probably can’t pass B. infantis on to your baby. Not even if you give birth vaginally, breast-feed exclusively and eat well.
B. infantis is not the only endangered bacterium in the West, and babies aren’t the only ones affected. By studying mice, researchers at Stanford have found that a lack of dietary fiber — which is missing from most processed foods — results in the loss of important bacterial strains.
Once these strains are gone, the only way to get them back will be to deliberately reintroduce them.
In a study funded by a company that plans to do just that, Dr. German and colleagues fed B. infantis to breast-fed babies. They found that it took over the entire lower intestine, crowding out pathogenic bacteria.
Although it’s too early to know if these babies will turn out to be healthier than their peers, the hope is that the presence of B. infantis for the first year or two of life will help prevent colic, allergies, asthma, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers later in life.
Dr. German envisions a future when it will be common for us to add the bacterium to some of our foods, much as we did with iodine.
But just inoculating babies with B. infantis won’t be enough. We should also give their mothers the opportunity to breast-feed.
The bacterium can’t survive without the carbohydrates it depends on. While companies are trying to figure out how to add oligosaccharides into infant formula, it will be very difficult to replicate the complexity and concentration of the carbohydrates that are naturally present in breast milk...Read more on NYTimes.com
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12/6/2017 — The bacteria in Evivo, Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) is the critically important bacteria in baby’s gut microbiome early in life. It helps to program metabolism and the immune system and supports the complete digestion of nutrients.
Unfortunately, due to generations of modern medical practices such as antibiotics and C-sections, most babies no longer acquire B. infantis early in life. Without it, potentially harmful bacteria thrive which have been linked to higher risk of colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes, and obesity. To date, probiotics have focused on general gut health and digestion, but until now had not demonstrated the ability to reduce potentially harmful bacteria.
In a controlled clinical trial led by University of California, Davis Medical Center, breastfed babies were given Evivo (activated B. infantis EVC001) once a day and compared to a similar group of babies who did not receive Evivo. This study showed the first-ever restoration of the baby gut microbiome via Evivo. Babies given Evivo saw a 79% increase in bifidobacteria. These Evivo babies also experienced an unprecedented 80% reduction of groups of potentially harmful bacteria such as E. coli, clostridia, Staphylococcus (Staph), and Streptococcus (Strep), which have been linked to disease later in life. Finally, across all babies in the study, those high in bifidobacteria had four times lower levels of endotoxin, a compound known to cause inflammation.
In summary, providing Evivo to babies in this clinical study completely restored the naturally protective gut microbiome in 100% of breastfed babies and significantly reduced potentially harmful groups of bacteria compared to babies who didn’t receive Evivo.
To read this article in full:
One key beneficial bacteria is designed by nature to live in babies’ gut, and thrive in the presence of human breast milk: Bifidobacterium (including B. infantis). In fact, the higher the levels of Bifidobacterium in baby’s gut early in life reduces the amount of potentially harmful bacteria which are linked later in life to a higher risk of many conditions like colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes, and obesity. In this recent clinical trial led by The University of California, breast fed babies were given Evivo (activated B. infantis) once a day for a month and were compared to breast fed babies who didn’t receive any probiotic. After a month, Evivo babies had significantly higher levels of total Bifidobacterium in their gut compared to babies who didn’t receive Evivo. This once-daily probiotic is clinically proven to restore Bifidobacterium to baby’s gut and reduce the amount of potentially harmful bacteria. It’s the first and only baby probiotic of its kind to help establish the foundation of lifelong well-being.
Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are special carbohydrates that are food for baby’s gut bacteria. One key beneficial bacteria, B. infantis, is unique and able to capture all these carbohydrates that might otherwise be wasted, consuming them fully allowing B. infantis to grow and protect baby’s gut, and convert them into essential nutrients that are critical for baby’s developing metabolism and immune system.
Probiotics are ‘good’ bacteria that help keep your gut microbiome healthy. Historically, probiotics have been taken with the hope to relieve symptoms such as gas, bloating, or other digestive issues. However, new research has found that gut health is connected to other conditions such as colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes, and obesity and may have a much larger impact on overall health, beyond only symptomatic relief.
Prebiotics are carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human body. Instead, they are ‘food’ for the gut microbiome. For babies, the most important prebiotics are found in breast milk and are called Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs). HMOs are the third most abundant nutrient in breast milk and are critical to ‘feed’ good bacteria in baby’s gut.
A gut microbiome is a collection of trillions of microorganisms, or bacteria, that live in our intestines, or gut.
By nature’s design, beneficial and protective bacteria are passed from mom to baby during the birthing process, creating baby’s unique gut microbiome. However, the unintended consequences of modern medical practices such as antibiotics, c-sections, and formula feeding have led to a decrease in this mom to baby transfer.
In collaboration with the University of California Medical Center, we completed a clinical trial in which breast fed babies were given Evivo once a day for a month and were compared to breast fed babies who didn’t receive any probiotic. After a month, Evivo babies had significantly higher levels of the key good bacteria, B. infantis, in their gut compared to babies who didn’t receive any Evivo. This good bacteria is critical for proper immune system and metabolic development during the first six months of life.