Friendly bacteria for a healthier gut
HOW much do you know about your intestines? You may be surprised to learn that you have about one hundred trillion bacteria living in your digestive tract, particularly in your intestines. These bacteria are made up of about 500 different species, which began settling into your body from the day you were born.
About 85% of these bacteria perform beneficial functions, such as digesting food, protecting against infection and influencing a few physiological processes in the body. The remainder of the bacteria may either not provide any benefits or could be potentially harmful, and sometimes referred to as “bad” bacteria.
Most of the body’s immune system lives in your digestive tract, home to about 70%-80% of immune cells, so any changes that occur in the gut have a strong impact, not only on your digestive health, but also on your overall health.
Balance between good and bad bacteria
The balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut has to be maintained in a fragile balance. This ratio between the “good” bacteria and the other bacteria becomes one of the critical factors determining your optimal health.
The ideal balance between them is 85% good, 15% “other”. A poor diet, stress, medications and an unhealthy lifestyle can disrupt this balance, allowing bad bacteria to flourish. When that happens, a person is likely to experience digestive health problems, such as bloating, intestinal pains, constipation or diarrhoea.
On the other hand, a healthy, balanced environment in the gut can protect the immune system from pathogenic bacteria, toxins, allergens, chemicals and pollutants.
For instance, research suggests that a particular strain of bacteria may help to maintain a healthy intestinal microflora.
One way to boost our good bacteria count is by taking probiotics with our food or as supplements.
Probiotics are live bacteria that help to re-establish a healthy bacterial balance in the intestines.
As more probiotic products appear on the market today, it is important to ensure that you are choosing a product that provides the best benefits.
Choosing wisely
The first criterion of a good probiotic product is the strain of bacteria used. It should be clinically documented in published clinical studies, safe to consume, able to withstand stomach acid and bile during the digestive process, and is able to attach to the intestinal lining.
L. Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium are two groups of bacteria commonly used in probiotic products, of which a few strains have been scientifically tested to be beneficial.
The bacteria must be alive or viable, gastric acid and bile salt-resistant, and have a good survival rate to perform their beneficial functions after they have been consumed.
Probiotics that contain stable microencapsulated strains with the right stabilisation processes during packaging and transportation will protect the bacteria against light, heat, humidity and moisture breakdown.
Biogrow Probiotics provides stable microencapsulated strains made from patented microencapsulation technology from Institute Rosell-Lallemand, Canada which ensures the probiotics are resistant to heat shock up to 50°C, resistant to gastric acid and bile acid as well as have higher survival rate.
The survival of probiotics is important because only live probiotics confer health benefits to us, not the dead ones.
This article is contributed by Legosan (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.