Probiotic bacteria are the basis for our health. Mr. Ilja Iljitš Metšnikov is concedered to be the “father” of probiotic treatments. There are many sources of probiotic bacteria. Yogurt is a very common and popular source of probiotic bacteria.
The word “probiotic” originates from the Greek language and it means “for life”. The word “probiotic” includes lactobacilli and all naturally occuring beneficial bacteria in our intestinal tract. The term “probiotic” has been used since year 1965.
A probiotic product is a product which contains live microorganism which change the intestines bacterial flora, balancing and improving a person’s immune system.
Probiotic bacteria favorably change the intestinal microflora balance, prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, promote good digestion, boost our immune system and increase our resistance to different infections. Probiotic bacteria also produce bacteriocins. Bacteriocins are substabces which act like antibiotics to kill harmful microorganisms. In the intestines, the probiotic microorganisms cling to the cells on the intestines’ mucous membrane. There is about 1.8 kg of lactobacilli in a healthy, grown up person!
Today, we get 100 000 times less probiotic bacteria from food than our ancestors did in the stone age. Our ancestors did not sufferer from illnesses resulting from the high standard of living like overweight, cardiovascular diseases or diabetes. Genetically, a human being has not changed that much during the past 40 000 years. Today, we need probiotic bacteria as much as our ancestors in the stone age.
Mr. Ilja Iljitš Metšnikov is concedered to be the “father” of probiotic treatments. He worked in the Pasteur Institute in Paris and was awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908. He studied the human intestinal flora and came up with a a theory that senility is caused because of poisoning of the body by the products of certain of these bacteria. Mr. Metšnikov suggested a diet which contained milk to prevent the multiplication of these bacteria. The milk would be fermented by bacilli which produce large amounts of lactobacilli.
There are many sources of probiotic bacteria. Yogurt is a very common and popular source of probiotic bacteria. However, not all yogurts contain this beneficial bacteria – for example frozen yogurts contain no live bacteria. Probiotic bacteria can also be obtained from different kinds of nutritional supplement products.
