Friendly Bacteria - Probiotics
Human white blood cell destroying pathogenic bacteria |
Part I of a 4-part article.
Did you know that over 400 species of microorganisms call your digestive system home and the majority are not only beneficial, but are absolutely essential for good health? Until we are born, we are completely sterile of microbes, but once outside the womb, we rapidly accumulate bacteria and possess approximately the same ratio as an adult by age four.
Bacteria Outnumber Body Cells
In fact, scientists believe that 100 trillion microorganisms reside within the human body - as much as 10 times more than our actual body cells! In other words, 90% of the cells within the human body are from single cell organisms who reside primarily in the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and vagina.
If you wonder how this can be possible, it’s because our body cells are so much larger than microbes. For example, red blood cells are approximately four times the size of intestinal bacteria and some of our individual muscle cells take up more space than thousands of microorganisms!
These helpful bacteria are called probiotics, which means “for life” and they have numerous functions, the majority of which have yet to be identified. It is well established that they aid in digestion, help to build the capillaries that line our intestines, promote bowel regularity, are involved in the synthesis of some vitamins, are an integral part of immune response, and produce enzymes necessary for the metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids.
Effects of a Western Diet
Unfortunately, our modern diet and lifestyle has definite drawbacks retarding the proliferation of healthy bacterial colonies.
These include:
- Reduced consumption of whole foods which means less complex carbohydrates. The fiber in fruits, vegetables, grains, and other plant foods provides the nutrients for certain beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria in the large intestines.
- People in Westernized nations eat much less fermented foods than people in developing countries and thereby consume far less lactic acid bacteria. This is evidenced by the fact that the intestinal flora of people in Western countries contains fewer bacterial strains and a slower turnover of microorganisms than that of individuals in developing countries.
