Written by Azadeh Khiabani, Ph.D. in Food Biotechnology
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are live microorganisms that can positively impact a consumer’s health when consumed in the correct amount. These microorganisms can be bacteria or yeasts similar to the natural and beneficial organisms found in the body, particularly in the digestive tract. Probiotics are commonly found in fermented foods and have also become popular as supplements and food additives to promote healthy digestion.
Probiotics travel through the digestive tract and thrive in the intestine by attaching themselves to mucous surfaces, preventing the attachment and adhesion of pathogenic microorganisms. These microorganisms, in conjunction with the body’s natural flora, can help maintain and improve the body’s health and immunity. In instances where the body’s beneficial bacteria are depleted, such as after taking antibiotics, probiotics can aid in replacing them. They play a crucial role in balancing good and bad bacteria to ensure the body functions optimally.
Types of probiotics
Many types of bacteria and yeast are classified as probiotics and offer various benefits. The most common probiotics are classified into the following groups:
- Lactobacilli
This group contains the most common probiotics found in fermented foods like dairy products. Different strains of lactobacillus, such as lactobacillus acidophilus, can assist with lactose intolerance and treat diarrhea.
- Bifidobacteria
This group includes strains like Bifidobacterium bifidus, found in some dairy products, which may help alleviate symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other conditions.
- Yeasts
Saccharomyces boulardii is a yeast included in the probiotics category. It has shown effectiveness in treating diarrhea and other digestive issues.
Benefits of probiotics
Scientifically confirmed health effects of probiotics include maintaining and positively modulating intestinal microbial communities, producing useful metabolites in the body, controlling opportunistic pathogenic strains, boosting the immune system, and stimulating the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells. Probiotics also improve the integrity of the intestinal mucosa, treat acne, eczema in children, allergies, inflammation, liver problems, and prevent dental diseases. Specifically, probiotics play a role in preventing and treating diarrhea, relieving the effects of lactose intolerance, treating irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal inflammations, and preventing the occurrence cancer. Some researchers believe that probiotics can also be effective in brain health, increasing intelligence, pain tolerance, blood sugar control, and fat storage control.
The function of probiotics
The mechanism of action of probiotics can be seen in three ways:
The first mechanism involves improving the host’s defense system, which is crucial in preventing and treating infectious diseases and intestinal inflammations. Probiotics can impact the immune system by producing metabolites, cell wall compounds, or DNA.
The second mechanism is the direct effect probiotics have on other microorganisms, which could be pathogens or harmful microorganisms. Probiotics can compete with these pathogens and prevent them from adhering to the intestinal wall.
The third mechanism involves probiotics influencing microbial products like toxins, as well as host-produced substances such as bile salts and food compounds. However, these mechanisms are dependent on the species and strains of probiotics.
The dosage of probiotics
Some probiotic products are labeled with the number of organisms they contain, known as colony forming units (CFU). Total microorganisms may also be listed by weight, including both live and dead organisms.
Many supplements contain 1 to 10 billion colonies per dose, with some containing even higher amounts. However, a higher colony count does not necessarily guarantee a more effective product. The survival and sustainability of probiotics are two main challenges that the probiotic food industry is currently facing. Probiotic products must contain specific strains that can survive during storage conditions. For a probiotic food to be effective, it must contain at least 6 Log CFU g -1 live and active probiotic microorganisms at the end of its use-by date to demonstrate its beneficial health effects.
Probiotic foods
Probiotics naturally occur in some fermented foods and are also added to others. However, food processing often destroys many microorganisms, and the numbers that reach the gut are sometimes small. The advantage of obtaining probiotics from food is that you are likely to receive a wider variety of beneficial microorganisms than from supplements. Additionally, some foods contain fiber that can act as a prebiotic and nourish the beneficial intestinal microbes. Some foods that may contain probiotics include yogurt, kefir, fermented cabbage, kimchi, tempeh, miso, soy beverages, cottage cheese, kombucha, and fermented pickles.
For more information, please refer to the articles on (Prebiotic), (Synbiotics), (Postbiotics), and (Functional Foods).
