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What bacteria do for your health
You know them, those small bottles of dairy that would help you maintain your intestinal flora. Or improve your resistance. What’s in those jars? And do you really need it?
Probiotics have been added to those dairy drinks or are made by these so-called good bacteria. These are certain living micro-organisms that have a positive effect on health.
lactic acid bacteria
You don’t necessarily have to drink it. There are also capsules, tablets and powders on the market that contain probiotics. The most commonly used probiotics are lactic acid bacteria. You can also naturally find these in sauerkraut, yogurt and salami, but then they are not as effective. According to science, a lactic acid bacterium can only call itself a probiotic if it reaches the intestines alive and contributes to good health.
Evidence
There are a lot of conditions where probiotics could offer a solution. Unfortunately, there is not scientific evidence for all diseases that it actually works. The Maag Lever Bowel Foundation and the Nutrition Center do agree that probiotics could possibly work in a disturbed intestinal flora. An excess of ‘bad bacteria’ can cause you to suffer from diarrhea or constipation, for example. With a probiotic you get enough ‘good bacteria’ to bring the intestinal flora back into balance. But here too, further research is needed.
More research
Positive effects have been found in antibiotic diarrhea (AAD), constipation and travellers’ diarrhoea. Furthermore, a lot of research is being done into the effect of probiotics on, for example, a reduced resistance, allergies, fungal infections, the intestinal disease Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease and the risk of colorectal cancer. The many studies are trying to find out whether the effect is there. Sometimes there are indications that seem to indicate this. Unfortunately, hard evidence is often lacking.
Bacterial strain
One probiotic is not the other. This is because they can contain different bacteria. Their names are made up of three levels, compare it with a car:
Volkswagen (car brand)
Wave (kind)
GTI (version)
This is how it works for bacteria:
Lactobacillus (genus)
casei (species)
Shirota (tribe)
Each strain can have a different effect. But the effects of which bacterium have to be further investigated. Not every bacterial strain has the same effect. So with one probiotic you will not have all the health benefits described above. Efficacy can also vary from person to person.
Which product really works?
Due to all the attention for probiotics, many products have come onto the market that piggyback on the hype. In 2006, the Consumers’ Association investigated products that claimed to contain ‘healthy bacteria’. Then it turned out that many wrong or fantasy names were used. ‘Active bifidus’, for example, is one such slogan that according to researchers makes no sense. Sometimes the products did not contain live bacteria or were even sterile. The probiotic dairy drinks (Vifit, Actimel, Activia and Yakult) were found to be good.
A good probiotic clearly states on the label which strain of bacteria has been used, whether they are alive and what effect these bacteria would have. What you can look for when buying a probiotic is whether a master number of the bacteria is mentioned and whether an information line is mentioned. When a producer makes a statement about the health effects of the product, this must be scientifically proven.
Useful for healthy people?
A healthy intestinal flora does not necessarily come in a bottle. You can also eat healthy, fibre-rich, low-fat and varied, ensure relaxation, get enough sleep, do not smoke and be moderate with alcohol. But even if you do all that, your gut flora can get out of balance.
Not only your lifestyle, but also aging, your environment, medicines (eg antibiotics) or stress can influence your intestinal flora and you cannot always do something about it. Perhaps you have no complaints, but your intestinal flora is still disturbed. A probiotic can therefore have positive effects in healthy people.
Whether or not you will use it when you are just healthy, the choice is yours. The bacterial strains from Yakult, Vifit and Danone Activa have now been well researched and have proven their safety and effectiveness via the Nutrition Center’s Code of Conduct. Other products may also help, but need more research.
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