Whats a probiotic How does it aid gut health When talking ab

What’s a probiotic? How does it aid gut health?

When talking about pre/probiotics, what’s the big deal about short chain fatty acids and lacticacid? What are these compounds doing to aid gut health?

What’s the difference between Bifidus animalis and Bifidus regularis?

Solution

Human body is full of good and bad bacteria. probiotics are nothing but good or helpful bacteria that help maitain the intestinal health. Probiotics replace the good bacteria in the gut and helps balance the good and bad bacteria.

when one is suffering with intestinal infections causing diarhhea(caused by bacteria, parasites etc) or when on antiobiotic treatments, our body looses certain useful bacteria and it becomes hard for us to maintain gut health. In such conditions probiotics help us replace the useful bacteria and thus maintaining the intestinal health.

Most of the intestinal bacteria are anaerobes which salvage energy through carbhoydrate metabolism and major products of carbohydrate metabolism are short chain fatty acids(SCFA), ex: acetate, propionate, butyrate. SCFA\'s promote the blood flow through the colonic vasculature, propionate improves the muscular activity and epithelial cell proliferation. SCFA\'s bring about PH change in the intestine which reduces the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms. Lactic acid is produced by Lactobacillus bacteria like lactibacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus acidophillus and Bifidobacterium bifidus. Lactic acid acts as a microbicidal agent against intestinal pathogens and microbes. Lactic acid bacteria prevent or slow down many kinds of diarrhea. It enhances the immune system function at the intestinal level. Studies are underway to proove that serum level cholesterol can also be lowered by Lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria prevents development of colon camcers as well.

Bifidobacterium animalis is found in large intestines of most of the mammals.Bifidobacterium strains are majorly used in probiotic products like yoghurts etc. Bifidus regularis, Bifidus actiregularis are marketing names used by Danone company for marketing purpose.