How Probiotics Work for you

When we have a stomachache or are sick, we are often told we have a bug. It is true that there are ‘bugs’ that live in our digestive systems. But there are good bugs and bad bugs.

First of all, bugs are living microorganisms. Within our bodies there must be a balance with those microorganisms to keep us healthy and feeling at our best. This is where Probiotics come in. Probiotics are the good bugs.

Scientifically, Probiotic bacterial cultures are intended to assist the body's naturally occurring gut flora, ecology of microbes, to re-establish themselves. Doctors sometimes recommend them, and, more frequently, they are prescribed by nutritionists after a course of antibiotics, or as part of the treatment for gut related candidiasis. Claims are made that Probiotics strengthens the immune system to combat allergies, excess alcohol intake, stress, exposure to toxic substances, and other diseases.

When we take antibiotics, for instance, the good bugs that work well with our bodies decrease in number, an event that allows harmful competitors to thrive, to the detriment of our health.

Probiotics, which means "for life", have been used for centuries as natural components in health-promoting foods. The original observation of the positive role played by certain bacteria was first introduced by Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff, who in the beginning of the 20th century suggested that it would be possible to modify the gut flora and to replace harmful microbes by useful microbes. Metchnikoff, at that time a professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, produced the notion that the ageing process results from the activity of putrefactive (proteolytic) microbes producing toxic substances in the large bowel.

Proteolytic bacteria such as clostridia, which are part of the normal gut flora, produce toxic substances including phenols, indols and ammonia from the digestion of proteins. According to Metchnikoff these compounds were responsible for what he called “intestinal auto-intoxication”, which caused the physical changes associated with old age. It was at that time known that milk fermented with lactic-acid bacteria inhibits the growth of proteolytic bacteria because of the low pH produced by the fermentation of lactose.

Metchnikoff had also observed that certain rural populations in Europe, for example in Bulgaria and the Russian Steppes who lived largely on milk fermented by lactic-acid bacteria were exceptionally long lived. Based on these facts, Metchnikoff proposed that consumption of fermented milk would “seed” the intestine with harmless lactic-acid bacteria and decrease the intestinal pH and that this would suppress the growth of proteolytic bacteria. Metchnikoff himself introduced in his diet sour milk fermented with the bacteria he called “Bulgarian Bacillus” and found his health benefited. Friends in Paris soon followed his example and physicians began prescribing the sour milk diet for their patients.

The term “probiotics” was first introduced in 1965 by Lilly and Stillwell, when it was described as growth promoting factors produced by microorganisms (protozoa). In the 1960s the dairy industry began to promote fermented milk products containing Lactobacillus acidophilus. In subsequent decades other Lactobacillus species have been introduced including Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus johnsonii, because they are intestinal species with beneficial properties.

In most circumstances, people use Probiotics to prevent diarrhea caused by antibiotics. Antibiotics kill "good" (beneficial) bacteria along with the bacteria that cause illness. Taking probiotic supplements (as capsules, powder, or liquid extract) may help replace the lost beneficial bacteria and thus help prevent diarrhea.

A decrease in beneficial bacteria may also lead to development of other infections, such as vaginal yeast and urinary tract infections, and symptoms such as diarrhea from intestinal illnesses.

Because many of us don’t eat the foods that put the good bugs back in our bodies, a course of Probiotics can help put our system back on track. The best part is, you have nothing to lose.