What are They?
Probiotics are microorganisms that have the ability to pass live through our gastrointestinal system, live there and play a certain beneficial role in our body. By far the most of them are bacteria (some are yeasts) and by far most of them live in our guts, but don't fool yourself, they are all around - throughout the surface of our skin, in our mouth, on the surface and inside of our sex organs, etc.
So how much of those bacteria do we share out body with?
Up to recently it was believed (and you can still hear that information) that there's ten times more microorganism living inside of us than there are cells in our body. The newer study puts the actual number far below - around 30 to 40 trillion of microbes for an average person, being around or just little above the number of our own cells. Which is still of course extremely large number.
Do I Really Need Them?
Yes, very much, their importance cannot be overstated. There is a whole range of diseases that are connected with disbalance of microorganisms in our colons. Probiotics are also extremely important in maintaining health of different body cavities with mucous membranes like those in our mouths, stomachs, vaginas. Some strains of lactic acid bacteria have been proven to be quite useful in treatment of various inflammatory and diarrhea-causing infections and have shown some usefulness in treating high blood-pressure and high cholesterol levels.
Should I Be Taking Those Probiotic Supplements
Probiotic supplement should not be taken on regular basis unless you have some serious condition like Crohn's disease. Those supplements are basically huge amount of bacterial spores of some strains of mostly Lactobaccilus and Bifidobacterium. But even the best ones on the market rarely have more than ten microbial strains, while healthy human can have up to several hundred various types of bacteria living in their colons. So when you take those supplements you are bombing your body with several beneficial strains of bacteria on account of all the others. To make a jungle analogy it would be as if you went to a rainforest and reforested all the clearings with several fast-growing commercial tree species. It would be useful to a degree to have more trees in the forest but in the longer run the damage to the forest biodiversity would overpower the benefits. In our guts and in the jungle alike, biodiversity is the key to a healthy ecosystem.
Why is Colon Microbiota Biodiversity so Important?
Probiotic organisms excrete metabolites that have negative effect on the ability of pathogenic bacteria to reproduce and or adhere to our tissues, thus adding an extra layer to our immunity. Since different probiotics have effect on different pathogens so it is important to have a high biodiversity of gut flora and high variety and amounts of their metabolites in our digestive system.
What Can I Do to Boost the Number of Good Bacteria?
Probiotic bacteria and yeasts normally live on the surface of all kinds of different foods so if you want to have good variety in your guts you must have a good variety of foods in your diet. Best choice for boosting gut biodiversity are fruits and veggies, and fermented foods and pickles. It is also crucial to eat plenty of diverse foods that is not thermally processed. Eat salad with every meal for healthy guts. Fermented foods like yogurts and kefir, kombucha, as well as kimchi or sauerkraut are all excellent choices. Pickles as well - as a matter of fact we rarely think about how are foods pickled, before reading more carefully about the process I actually assumed things are just preserved in vinegar in order to prevent bacteria from growing. But that is not what really happens; we stick thing in solution of vinegar or some other acid to allow lactic acid bacteria that normally lives on the surface of those foods to colonize it and thus prevent other microbes from taking over.
However getting variety of bacteria in your digestive system is only half of the story and the other side equally or more important is feeding them. We do that by eating prebiotic foods.
Now what is Prebiotic Food?
Prebiotic foods are those that contain lots of dietary fibers which serve as food source for probiotic bacteria. Among them are trans-galactooligosaccharide, inulin, resistant starches, pectin, beta-glucans and others. Instead of loosing your sleep thinking about specific type of prebiotics you should be eating plenty of whole grains, nuts and different root vegetables. One of the best prebiotic foods is without doubt Jerusalem artichoke which is a great source of inulin. So if you didn't already, start thinking about eating more of those. Also foods like whole oat grains, apples, pears, regular artichokes, asparagus and even onions can all be considered prebiotic. Just munch plenty of diverse plant foods and you're covered.
Jeruzalem Artichoke (Source)
But What is The Best Dietary Style for Gut Biodiversity?
Studies found negative correlation between gut biodiversity and consumption of animal foods. Measured by the amount of metabolites in their stool, vegans had by far the most favorable ratio of beneficial bacteria and pathogens. If you don't want to give up animal foods at least think about increasing the amount of fruits, veggies, grains and nuts. Also Mediterranean diet was proven to be quite good.
I have a Gut Disease and Have a Hard time Digesting Those, What Should I Do?
Inform yourself about fecal microbiota transplant - very simple and effective medical procedure that is fast becoming mainstream. In the procedure sample of feces of a healthy individual is transplanted to the gut of diseased person in order to plant a seeds of healthy digestive microbiota.
Ok, I know you stopped at feces and I know it sounds disgusting, but it is actually safe and sanitary procedure in which very small amount of freeze-dried material is inserted in a recipients colons by either enema (if you're lucky) or via orogastric tube (in other words via mouth) if you are less lucky. But in any way only disgusting part is the concept. The procedure has proven to be very useful in various serious conditions so we shouldn't bee too sensitive about it. If you are still not convinced you should know that the same concept was used in traditional medicine in China and Arab world centuries ago. In those time they actually had to consume either human or camel stool in it's raw and untreated form.
Is There Any Reason to Take Probiotic Supplements if I don't Have a Serious Disease?
Yes, you should take those after consuming antibiotics in order to speed up the recovery of your colon microbiota and prevent antibiotic resistant pathogens like Clostridium difficile from thriving. It is also good idea to take some as preventive measure when you travel to exotic places. Being a yogi I happen to travel to India often so I always take some quality probiotic supplements with me to prevent travelers bowels. They have both cured me from heavy diarrhea after food poisoning and saved me after eating very dubious street food another time. So yeah, you can take them in certain conditions. Always choose those that have larger number of different bacterial strains.
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