Forty subjects with ulcerative colitis will be recruited for the study and be provided a dietary supplement (5x109 bacteria/capsule, twice a day) for 6 weeks to 1/2 of the subjects and 1/2 of the UC subjects will be given a placebo control (potato starch). Standard medical care and therapies will be continued throughout the study. Initially, the physician will complete the Ulcerative Colitis Disease Activity Index (UCDAI) and the participants will complete the Shortened Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ), and biopsies collected for histopathological assessment and analysis of inflammatory cytokine production (mRNA). Also, 30 ml of venous blood will be collected from each subject for analysis of serum/plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones. Subjects will be randomly assigned to the probiotic or placebo group (blinded to the physicians). After consuming the dietary supplement or placebo for 6 weeks, subjects will complete the SIBDQ questionnaire, the physician complete the UCDAI, be examined by sigmoidoscopy and tissue biopsies and blood samples collected. Also, during the 6 weeks of treatment, subjects will maintain a daily diary of their bowel habits. Data analysis will determine whether, relative to placebo controls, consumption of probiotics reduces the symptoms and levels of intestinal inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis.