The Sporty Strain
L. helveticus Lafti® L10 has been documented on athletes’ population specifically to answer their needs in immune health. Sport induces a physiological stress and can significantly impair natural defenses. Lafti® L10 helps over trained athletes to recover an effective immune system similar to healthy athletes by increasing IFN-γ levels, a biomarker for natural defenses (p=0.01) as shown in Clancy et al 2006. In 2017, Lafti® L10 significantly shortened the duration of URTI-like episodes in elite athletes by 3.4 days (p=0.047) which has been correlated with a significant increase in natural defenses biomarker in blood: CD4/CD8 ratio. Similar results were observed in healthy, but stressed students.
New results on antioxidant status
A recent post-hoc analysis has been published [Michalickova 2018]. This new statistical analysis focused on 22 male participants and looked at both pro-oxidative parameters and anti-oxidative parameters to assess the general oxidative stress. These new results suggest an antioxidant potential of L. helveticus Lafti® L10 (p<0.05).
Interesting preliminary results on HDL and LDL-cholesterol
Total cholesterol levels, HDL-cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) levels, and LDL-cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) have been monitored in serum samples. Total cholesterol is significantly lower in Lafti® L10 group compared to placebo at the end of the study (p<0.05). Lafti® L10 significantly decreases LDL-cholesterol and significantly increases HDL-cholesterol compared to baseline (p<0.05).
Approved health claims in Canada
Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD), the regulatory agency for natural health products in Canada, has approved health claims for L. helveticus Lafti® L10, such as:
• Promotes gastrointestinal health in physically active adults
• Helps reduce the incidence of cold-like symptoms in adults with exercise-induced stress
• Source of antioxidant probiotic
• Source of antioxidant probiotic in elite athletes