Microbiota - Probiotics

Probiotics were originally introduced as the opposite of antibiotics, living microorganisms consumed to restore the microbiota that we lost after antibiotic treatments. A probiotic is a live microorganism which provide a health benefit to the host and promote gut health when administered in adequate amounts. A probiotic can strengthen the immune system, prevent infection with pathogens, compensate an unhealthy change in our microbiota or an infection by shortening the time of recovery for our microbiome, and even provide extra energy via more short chain fatty acids.

They provide hope in treating lactose intolerance, infections and post-antibiotic diarrhea, immunomodulation for allergies and chronic bowel inflammatory diseases. The biggest challenge is to make them to reach intestine alive, surviving the storage and the acidic medium of our stomach, and delivering the desired concentration in the end (which is strain dependent). We are aiming for 10 at the 7th colony forming units pre milliliter of product. Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria are the most used antibiotics.

Tomorrow i will talk a bit about synbiotics. Have a nice day!

G.

Carbohidrates II (About fiber and lactose-intolerance)

Let's continue to explore the carbs story.

As i said in a previous post, there are some carbs that cannot be digested. They are named fibers, and they can be water soluble and insoluble.
-Soluble fibers are known to lower blood cholesterol  (reducing the risk of heart disease), slow glucose absorption (protecting against type 2 diabetes) and hold moisture in stools (preventing constipation).
-The insoluble fibers are known to increase fecal weight, speed fecal passage and provide bulk and fullness feelings when eaten.

At first, in the past decades, researchers believed in a relation between fibers and colon cancer, but recent cohort studies proved that untrue. However, an increase in fibers can improve health, only because we are not having the right amount every day.


Lactose intolerance

What is lactose? Lactose is the sugar from milk, yogurt and dairy. Lactose intolerance is manifested through abdominal pain, bloating, gas development and diarrhea. Is is the result of a deficiency of an enzyme present in the gastro-intestinal tract, called lactase. Lactase can break the lactose in its primary components - glucose and galactose. Anyway, as you age, your body gradually lose the ability to produce lactase. Most of the people around the world will become eventually lactose-intolerant. Globally,most of the Northern and Western Europe is lactose-tolerant, while most of the Asia is lactose intolerant.

Does this means complete elimination of milk and dairy? Not always, sometimes yogurt is better tolerated than milk, but if this is not the case, you can always use lacto-free milk (made from soy or almonds, for example).