Let's find out why probiotics can improve our intestinal health and keep us healthy. Surely you have heard about the importance of maintaining a healthy intestinal flora, also being one of the key reasons that can guarantee the health of our body. Maintaining the balance of microbiotics is essential to avoid the emergence of a high number of disorders that condition our health, or risk the risk of suffering from certain pathologies.
What is Microbiotics?
The intestinal microbiota , or also called intestinal flora, is the population of microbes and bacteria that live in our intestine, which have a high involvement in human health. There are tens of trillions of microorganisms , including at least 1,000 different species of known bacteria with more than 3 million genes, residing in the intestinal flora. One third of our gut microbiota is common to most people, while two thirds are specific to each of us, that is, our gut is one of individual identity.
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Why is it necessary to maintain our Intestinal Health?
Microorganisms have evolved together with us forming an integral part of human life, where they perform a series of essential functions and are involved in health and disease . There are links between the alteration of these bacterial populations and the following diseases or pathologies: chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease, asthma, autism, cancer, celiac disease, eczema, cardiovascular health, or obesity.
Function of Microbiotics
The tasks performed by the microbiotic are very diverse, such as nutritional or immunological function:
- Development of the gastrointestinal system of the newborn
- Obtaining energy from nutrients, due to its ability to ferment indigestible carbohydrates, promote the absorption of monosaccharides and the subsequent energy storage
- Maintenance of the pH of the skin and in the colon.
- Improves the absorption of water and minerals in the colon.
- Increase the speed of intestinal transit.
- Stimulates angiogenesis
- In the intestinal tract, it interacts with the immune system, providing signals to promote the maturation of immune cells and the normal development of autoimmune functions.
- Changes in its composition can contribute to the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome
- Protects against the development of type I diabetes
- Pathologies or chronic intestinal diseases are, and seem to be related to the alteration of intestinal microbiota
Factors that damage microbiotics
Our behavior and habits are the main causes and causes of why our intestinal flora tends to weaken or become sick, understanding this as a decrease in the bacterial population . They also lead to establish, as we indicated before, our unique profile of microbiotics. Among such factors are:
Age : the younger population has less complexity of bacterial diversity, while the elderly favor the colonization of the group of bacteroid species.
Diet : what you eat can define your intestinal microbiotic by altering it.
Drugs : the ingestion of antibiotics, as a measure of healing, can also cause the elimination of certain groups of bacteria from the intestine.
Exercise : As part of the adaptations, and the return to homeostasis, they produce certain variations in microbiotics, especially high intensity and prolonged duration, amplifying the symptoms of oxidative stress or creatine .
Environment : the environmental pollutants of various chemical families alter the composition and / or the metabolic activity of the gastrointestinal bacteria, which can be an important factor that contributes to mold the microbiotype of the individual.
What are Probiotics?
They are living bacteria and yeasts that reside in our body, and that are good for health, especially for the digestive system. Although the connotation of bacteria seems to reflect disease, in this case, its meaning is totally opposite: probiotics are bacteria that help keep the microbiotic healthy.
Function of Probiotics
Favor Digestion
Probiotics support the healthy balance of the microflora in the gastrointestinal system , suppress the growth of harmful bacteria and support a healthy digestion, improving intestinal mobility. This confers improved digestive function, specifically, that of effectively absorbing nutrients . These "friendly" bacteria help the intestines to produce lactic acid, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide and other necessary organic compounds. They also participate in the synthesis of bile and the secretion of gastric juices.
Protection against infections
The probiotic bacteria and yeasts also improve the function of the immune system , stimulating the secretion of IgA and regulatory T cells, through the synthesis of enzymes that destroy harmful bacteria and toxins,
Practical issues to consider in athletes
Most of the probiotic bacteria studied in physically active individuals and athletes have been: Lactobacillus casei (the famous L-casei), L-fermentum , L-acidophilus and L-rhamnosus . The results do not show that any of them is superior to another, and therefore, it is difficult for medical and dietary recommendations for athletes to establish unique formulations of probiotics, recommending multispecies.
All of them, in terms of sports supplementation, can produce small beneficial effects in the improvement or maintenance of good health such as reducing the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases during periods of stress, high training load and competition.
In any case, the individualized review of the diet of athletes is a fundamental factor to know that exposure to probiotics is well tolerated before the competition.
Therefore, for a competition, the administration of probiotic supplements should begin at least 14 days before to allow adequate time for the colonization of bacterial species in the intestine.
Finally, an increased risk of gastrointestinal problems during travel is more than frequent, particularly in countries with problems related to hygiene of food (Asia, South America and Africa occupy prominent positions). Prophylactic supplementation with probiotics for individuals (not only athletes) and athletes traveling to these regions or areas could be part of the prevention plan of a general disease, following the same protocol of anticipation (14 days).
Types of Probiotics
The most common probiotics are the species that belong to the Bifidocaterium, Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces groups . Lasctobacillus Acidophilus is one of the most beneficial and well-known bacteria, used as a probiotic supplement. In addition there are the species of Lactobacillus casei, L. bulgaricus, L. sakei, L.plantarum, L.gasseri, L.reuteri, Lactobacillus GG and Lactobacillus LB. Bifidobacterium and S.thermophilus are also recommended species of probiotics.
Properties of Probiotics
Improves mood
These microorganisms help gastrointestinal health in the human body, which is why they are key elements in our health and well-being in general . This is particularly true if we consider that many of the common chronic diseases begin in the digestive system.
Restore the Intestinal Tract
With more than 400 different bacteria living in the human gastrointestinal tract, the most common forms of intestinal probiotics are L. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. These bacteria act as agents to restore unfriendly balance, intestinal pathogens such as Candida bacteria or E. coli.
Avoid Diseases
When the "good bacteria" are not sufficiently present in the organism, a series of health problems related to the bacteria appear, such as digestive discomfort, headaches, lethargy, irritability, candidiasis (an overgrowth of the bacterium Candida albicans). .
Lactobacillus Acidophilus
It is possibly the strongest of our probiotic fighters. Studies show that L. acidophillus is like a natural antibiotic in our body that has the ability to produce an antimicrobial action against pathogens in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the retention of environmental elements that come into contact with we .. Stress, unhealthy lifestyles, and most importantly, unhealthy diets, destroy our natural amounts probiotic microorganisms.
What are functional foods?
They are modified foods, with the particularity that some of their components affect vital functions of the organism in a positive way. They offer health benefits by reducing the risk of diseases . Some functional foods include those that contain certain minerals, vitamins , essential fatty acids or dietary fiber, foods to which biologically active substances have been added, such as yogurts with bifidus.
What is the Difference between Probiotics and Prebiotics?
Probiotic foods
Probiotic foods include live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a benefit to the health of people. These microorganisms help to strengthen your immune system , in addition, can survive the digestion reaching the colon intact (alive) and helping to restore the intestinal flora that may have been altered by various causes.
Prebiotic foods stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal flora . Unlike live bacteria from probiotics, prebiotics they are only lifeless substances that help to potentiate the beneficial effects of probiotic microorganisms . The prebiotics come from the fibers of the carbohydrates called oligosaccharides, which are not digested, so they remain in the digestive tract and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria.
Symbiotic foods are those that contain prebiotic and probiotic products . They contain a prebiotic component that favors the effect of the positive benefits of the probiotic compounds.
Foods with Probiotics
In the intestinal tract both "good" and "bad" bacteria coexist, in a higher percentage than the first, and in a stable ratio. When for various reasons this balance is modified, what is known as dysbiosis occurs . By introducing probiotic foods, we can achieve to restore the correct levels. It is well known the benefits that induce such foods, such as: improvement of energy production, better skin texture, easier digestion, lower rate of colds or colds, reduction of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, and even loss of weight.
Best Foods with Probiotics
It is a list of the best foods that probiotics provide, and it is recommended that at least several of them be within your diet. Naturally, they are foods that have been fermented , that is, a colony of bacteria have produced their alteration and molecular structure, transforming them into other types of food after their original (milk -> cheese / yogurt), with better properties, easier to digest , with the presence of greater concentration of nutrients ...
- Kefir
- Yogurt
- Kombucha
- Mother's Bread
- Pickles
- Natto
- Tempeh
- Sauerkraut or sauerkraut
- Kimchi
- Miso
How Does Intestinal Flora Improve?
Maintaining the integrity of the elements with beneficial properties for health should be a task to which maximum attention should be devoted, in order to avoid the risk of generating disease or more severe pathologies. Among the actions that produce an alteration of the correct order of our intestinal flora are the following, being a battle horse, treat them carefully and reduce or suppress each one to the maximum:
- Chemicals or toxins from the environment
- Excess of sugar in the diet
- Drugs (antibiotics)
- Ultra processed food
- Stress continued
Probiotic supplements
In order to improve and balance the intestinal flora, the option of including probiotics in the form of a supplement becomes very important. As we see, we are exposed to an infinity of pollutants and toxins. In addition, even the measures and treatment of food, from their collection, transportation, storage, and sale, produce an alteration in their properties, where a large majority are no longer useful (in aspects related to the subject)
The people who can obtain the maximum benefits are those who suffer from a problem in the immune system , such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's.