What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are good live bacteria and yeast that are beneficial to the body. The microorganisms are available in some foods and dietary supplements. Probiotics work in the same manner as the probiotics that live naturally in the gut. The three main sources of probiotics in the body are; naturally existing probiotics in the intestines, supplements and foods. The naturally existing probiotics in the intestines include Saccharomyces boulardii and Bifobacterium and Lactobacillus family of microorganisms. Another bacterium called Lactoacidophilus is found in certain types of yoghurt.
The dietary supplements with probiotics are available in tablet, liquid extract, powder and tablet forms. Most of these supplements are sold
…show more content…
However, it is important to acknowledge that body may not necessarily require probiotics foods and supplements to be healthy or to operate optimally, foods and supplements with good probiotics can go a long way to complement the good work done by the bacteria in the gut. Below are some of the benefits of probiotics:
• Helps restore bacteria balance in favor of good probiotics to help the body function
…show more content…
Eating rich probiotics foods and maintaining a healthy intestinal flora, can help a person maintain more efficient immune system. One study indicated that subjects who were given fermented dairy drink instead of regular milk had a higher level of lymphocytes in the systems.
Women’s health
Improper balance good and bad bacteria inside the vagina can cause serious uncomfortable infections such as yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis. Some studies have shown that probiotics such as L. acidophilus when taken as vaginal suppositories can support antibiotics in preventing and treating vaginal infections.
Safety of Probiotics
Studies have shown that probiotics may trigger an allergic reaction, which may manifest through diarrhea, mild stomach upset, bloating and flatulence in the first few days of application. Some probiotics have been shown to adversely affect the metabolic pathways such as carbohydrates metabolism or overstimulation the immune system. For this reasons, if you have any serious illness or certain bowel problems, avoid using
Proteus mirabilis is part of the normal flora of the human gastrointestinal tract. It can also be found free living in water and soil. When this organism, however, enters the urinary tract, wounds, or the lungs it can become pathogenic. Proteus mirabilis commonly causes urinary tract infections and the formation of stones.
Orel, R., & Kamhi Trop, T. (2014). Intestinal microbiota, probiotics and prebiotics in inflammatory bowel disease. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 20(33), 11505-11524.
It doesn’t form gels and bacteria are less likely to be able to digest it. It’s found in whole grains, legumes, wheat bran, and other fruits and vegetables.
To understand the human gut health and aetiology, the first step is to understand the gastrointestinal (GI) microflora and its distribution through the digestive system [2]. The human GI tract is inhabited by trillions of microorganisms, which together is known as the microbiota [5]. These microorganisms come from both archeal and bacterial domains. Bacteria are the predominant kingdom of organisms and it is composed mainly by five bacterial phyla: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia [3]. The great majority of mammalian gut microbiota belongs to the three phyla: the Gram-negative anaerobe Bacteroidetes, the Gram-positive Actinobacteria and Firmicutes [5].
The macrobiotic movement has become increasingly popular during the past decade due to various survival stories from chronically ill persons who used the macrobiotic way as an alternative approach to medicine.
Hats off to bacteria! This article summarizes that bacteria are good for our body and help us function a lot better. Bacteria live in our guts, in our mouths, and on our skin. Overuse of antibiotics has disturbed the bacterial ecosystem, possibly so much that it is irreversible. In 1999 Lawrence Brandt a professor of medicine and surgery at the Albert Einstein College of medicine had success when trying to help a patient combat diarrhea induced by clostridium difficile. A patient developed diarrhea after taking a course of antibiotics for sinusitis; nothing could shake her C.difficile infection. Brandt reasoned the initial antibiotic treatment had killed gut bacteria that promote digestive health; not knowing which strain to replace, he transplanted stool form her husband. That night she reported marked improvement- for the first time in six months. This procedure has helped patients, but hopefully in the future doctors will be able to administer the particular strain of bacteria that is needed. 99% of the bacteria we harbor are resistant to culture in the lab. It was this impossible to study bacteria until the last decade or so, when DNA sequencing techniques allowed researchers to obtain gene sequences from as little as one bacterial cell. With this researchers found that bacteria cells in our bodies outnumber our human cells. Bacterial exposure throughout our lifetime is needed for our wellbeing, thinking, and functioning, contributing to conditions such as diabetes, obesity, allergies, asthma, and atherosclerosis, as well as to anxiety and mood and cognition disorders. These conditions have become more prominent because of our obsession with sanitation has eliminated the exposure to bacteria humans used to routinely get throu...
Fermented foods - the better probiotics you have in your gut, the better chance you have at balancing the bacteria in the rest of your body. It allows our immune system to work where it's needed: fighting the lyme, not bad bacteria.
applied probiotic capsules for bacterial vaginosis and other vaginal infections: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 168(2013), 75-79. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2012.12.031p
Terry, Sarah. "Recommended Probiotics | LIVESTRONG.COM." LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools | LIVESTRONG.COM. 26 May 2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. .
Natural products include dietary supplements and probiotics. Dietary supplements can be anything from multivitamins to supplemental herbs. Probiotics are live bacteria that are found in the digestive tract (National Center, 2011, para.6). H...
Did you know that 80% of your immune system is in your gut? Eating, or in this case drinking, probiotics can help balance the delicate system in your gut and help your overall health.
A dietary supplement is a product other than tobacco that contains one or more dietary ingredient, and those include vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other
The term “Probiotic” is derived from Greek which means pro: for and bios: life (for life) in contradiction to antibiotic which means: against life. The term probiotic was first introduced by Lilly and Stillwel (1965) to express growth-promoting factors produced by microorganisms. Parker (1974) first specified designation “Probiotic”. He defined probiotics as microorganisms or substances, which contribute to the balance of the intestinal micro flora. Probiotics are biological products, which stimulate the immune system and increase its defensive activity against pathogenic bacteria. Probiotics stimulate the natural resistance of the organism by increasing the number of antibodies and increasing the effectiveness of macrophages (Stern et al.,2001). The probiotics are mainly used to balance the microflora of organisms, which in turn helpful for the growth of an organism as well as its production (Kabir et al.,2005). Probiotics will secrete the antimicrobial substances and alter the microflora to suppress the pathogen activity and they will show the anti-toxin effect (Janardhana et al.,2...
Microbes are major key components in both are homes and industrial food preparation. There are number of lactic acid which is a form of bacteria which is a large group of beneficial bacteria used in certain foods while they are getting prepared such as yogurt, cheese, sour cream, butter milk and other type of fermented milk products. Things such as vinegars are produced by bacterial acetic acid fermentation. Yeast is also major use in the making of beer and wine and also for the leaving of breads. This also involves fermentations to convert corn and other vegetable carbohydrates to also make beer, wine or gasohol but also bacteria is the agents of are other foods. Other fermented foods will include things such as soy sauce, olives and cocoa. (Microbes and human life, 2013) Single cell proteins are known as dried cells of microbes which are used in protein supplement shacks. They are also called “novel food” and “minifood”. The production of this requires micro-organisms which then serve as the protein source and then the substrate which is biomass which they grow on them. There are a number of both these sources that we are able to use for the production of single cell protein (SCP). The micro-organisms used belong to the following groups of Algae, Fungi and bacteria. (Slide Share, 2012)
Prebiotics are carbohydrates that probiotics use as fuel. Kefir has both of these. A recent study in animals found this fermented milk probiotic decreased inflammation, both of which markers of pre-diabetes and obesityⅱ. Though it is made from a type of yeast, kefir may also help fight harmful yeast in the gut. If you are a woman that suffers from recurrent yeast infections or easily gets a yeast infection after being on antibiotics, plain kefir can help restore the proper balance of good bacteria in the gut. People with lactose intolerance can often eat kefir without problems, since the lactic acid bacteria have already pre-digested the