What is Probiotics
A lot is being said about these rapidly becoming popular bacteria called probiotics. As the name suggests these are “pro”-”for, in favor of”-”biotic”life-digestion-the breaking down of food and derivement of material-metabolism”.
Bacteria is often a word that is thought to describe all harmful , microscopic organisms, that carry or are , capable of life threatening infections. This is often purveyed by many companies selling antibacterial agents for cleaning. the truth is that we are inhabited by many symbiotic organisms that assist our bodily function in a way that muscle and tissue cannot.
We all have them naturally , but sometimes these colonies can be wiped out. Whenever you would take a course of antibiotics, the numbers of these microorganisms are decimated.
Probiotics are an artificial oversupply of these bacteria , that do much the same job as the ones we already have , and in many cases an oversupply can vastly increase the efficiency of the gut.
As with many other bacteria , the initial consumption of these can be felt very quickly , as large amounts of bacteria suddenly entering the food pathways can cause faster movements , and and even diarrhoea conditions. This passes very quickly as the body learns to cope with these bacteria, and as they have a very mild laxative effect, which often counts for the claims that these will help with your regularity.
As with all bacteria , they all thrive on different fuels , and give off different wastes , and it is this combination of the breaking down of food stuffs to release certain elements that makes a blend of many different varieties beneficial. One such case is Bifidobacterium (B. longum) has been proven to have a cholesterol lowering effect if taken daily as well as other p[roperties such as reversing the loss of fluids from the bowels.It also increased the amount of lactic acid bacteria allowing it to breed and caused the host to lose weight as well as blocked potentially harmful enzymes.Note 1
So by mixing and matching, rather like a cocktail of drugs, it is possible to achieve all the desired effects with virtually no ill effects. In this way the probiotic properties are used as alternative medicine, a natural way to help with many small complaints.Having been around for nearly 100 years , no real testing under laboratory condition have been made to fully prove the great many claims made by the sellers of the products , although there are small studies from time to time , these have not been produced and scrutinised in a way that can be held conclusive.
Very often we hear that these probiotics come in a yogurt form, but they can come in almost any , and do not have to be dairy based ( lactose intolerance is on the rise in the west to match those on outer eastern cousins).There are natural vegetable oil margarine’s and spreads , and often these are mixed with other health promoting , cholesterol lowering extracts , such as olive oil,or sunflower, even rape seed oil.There are also capsule supplements , as well as naturally high products , such as buttermilk (a high fat milk or full milk), acidophilus milk fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus ,( one of the very early forms of probiotic milks from the 1920’s , still available today).
Lactose intolerance can also be helped with the use of these probiotic additions, keeping “bad” colonies, enzymes, and the faster pace of movements , greatly eases the discomforts or occasional use.Regular use of these range of products also keeps the wrong colonies from multiplying extensively in the gut , and inmany cases can halt and retreat their growth in a matter of hours.
Thanks to
1.http://www.lipidworld.com/content/8/1/21
