What are Probiotics?
You see it on the labels of your yoghurt, cheese, or other processed food products: “Live Active Culture”. I even saw some salami at the supermarket bearing the word: Probiotic. But what does probiotic really mean?
Our digestive tracts (or other parts of our body, for that matter) are full of microorganisms. Not all of them are bad and cause disease. In fact, some of them are beneficial. In contrast to antibiotics which we take to kill the disease-causing bugs, probiotics are composed of microorganisms that help promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. By competing for space and nutrients, these “good” bacteria can inhibit the growth and/or activity of the “bad” bugs. For probiotics to be able to weild their power, though, they must reach the destination (usually, the gut) alive, and in significant numbers.
Most probiotic bacteria are sold as components of dairy products (Danone, Nestle and Yakult are some of the most popular brands), although capsules and tablets containing freeze-dried probiotic bacteria are also available in the market. And though there are many microorganisms involved in the production of probiotic dairy products, those which have probiotic activity belong to the Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium genera.
There have been many health benefits attributed to probiotics, some with more scientific backing than others. Do you need to consume probiotic products? Are probiotics safe? The US Probiotics FAQ webpage has a good primer about probiotics and will answer most of these questions. For specific health benefits, we’ll tackle them one by one in the succeeding posts.
Tags: food-microbiology, health, health-food, healthy-food, microbes, microbiology, probiotic, probiotics, yoghurt, yogurtRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Food Talk, ~Dietary Supplements, ~Immune Defense, ~Milk Products
6 opinions for What are Probiotics?
iFitandHealthy
Aug 15, 2006 at 9:31 am
Danone is very popular in Europe. I think it has the best quality. If they could only make a sugar free version, that would be great. I am still trying to understand the difference between a typical yogurt and these products, because all good ones also contain Lactobacillus or Bifidobacteriumit.
AJ Cann
Aug 15, 2006 at 10:55 am
You might enjoy listening to my recent podcast about probiotics and prebiotics, “Microbiology is Big Bucks: The £28m Fungus and the Probiotic Ripoff”. It’s at:
http://microbiologybytes.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/microbiology-is-big-bucks-the-£28m-fungus-and-the-probiotic-ripoff/
ruth
Aug 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Danone is popular, but comparatively expensive, so most people I know still opt for the “normal” yoghurt. There are labelling concerns to differentiate probiotic from the normal dairy products, and the jury is still out, but basically, the difference is the species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria used, and the number of live bacteria in the end product.
Bifido are not necessarily present in a normal yoghurt (Lactobacillus and Streptococcus are the classic components).
But like AJ Cann mentioned in his podcast, there are also other ways of keeping the gut flora in a healthy balance. Eating probiotics is just one possibility.
docwrite
Aug 29, 2006 at 5:10 pm
All yogurts are not created equal. Many do not have live bacteria. Others may have better health potential by virtue of having higher concentration of live bacteria as well as having more than two usual types of bacteria.
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