For research purposes, scientists go to fly-infested restaurants to supplement probiotics?

Looking at yourself in the mirror, do you feel lonely and helpless?

In fact, the person you see is not fighting alone. You are a team of 100 trillion lives. The number of your external aids is 10 times the total number of cells in your body. They weigh 1.2kg, which is about the same as your liver.

These invisible soldiers quietly help you digest food and absorb nutrients. For your health, they do not recognize any relatives and work hard to exclude their bad relatives. They are the "good bacteria" in your body.

If they don’t live well, you may suffer from diarrhea, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, or even gastrointestinal cancer, immune system diseases and depression. Your health and happiness are closely related to this invisible “army”.

What are bacteria used for?

Bacteria are notorious. We fight them with various methods every day, such as sterilization, disinfection, and antibacterial. However, there are less than 100 species of bacteria in the world that can make humans sick. And most of the thousands of microorganisms in our intestines are good citizens.

Everyone knows that the intestines are the place where grains are reincarnated. Half of the solid components of your daily excrement are bacteria. You provide bacteria with a large habitat of 300 square meters and rich nutrition. Bacteria help you complete metabolism and nutrient absorption like a plug-in.

You, plus the microbes in your body, are one superorganism. There are more microbes in your gut than there are stars in the Milky Way. That's a lot of information, because your gut is your second brain. There are about 100 million neurons in your gut, about the same as in your spinal cord.

Scientists have also been trying to understand the relationship between the gut and emotions. For example, scientists extracted intestinal bacteria from human patients with depression and implanted them into the intestines of mice. The mice showed characteristics similar to human depression, and these behaviors were also passed on to the next generation of mice. The microorganisms in the intestines of mice influence their behavior, and your intestinal flora also affects your brain.

Gut flora is responsible for producing serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for conveying feelings of happiness, relaxation, and confidence. If your gut flora explodes, your body and mind will also be in turmoil.

Where can you find "good bacteria"? The first generation of probiotics in your body may come from your mother's birth canal during natural childbirth, or from your first mouthful of breast milk. After that, you have to eat. Diet is one of the important factors that change intestinal microorganisms, and it is also the easiest factor to change or control.

Discovery of lactic acid bacteria

Before scientists figured out the principles, human gourmets around the world had already taken the lead in exploration.

Our "foodie" ancestors initially just wanted to make food that tastes better and is easier to preserve. For example, when Lactobacillus bulgaricus ferments milk, it can remove the raw smell of milk and produce a faint fragrance - this is yogurt. Yogurt is not only delicious, but also inspired microbiologists. This type of lactic acid bacteria is the first batch of probiotics we discovered.

Lactic acid bacteria are an important part of the intestinal flora, and they have an antagonistic effect on other microorganisms in the intestine. They can not only enhance resistance, but also deal with other bad bacteria.

As early as 4,500 years ago, nomadic peoples in different parts of the world drank naturally fermented yogurt. However, the principle of turning milk into yogurt was not revealed until the 19th century.

In 1857, French microbiologist Pasteur observed fresh milk and yogurt under a microscope and discovered lactic acid bacteria for the first time.

In 1908, Russian scientist Mechnikov discovered that the probiotics in the fermented yogurt consumed daily by Bulgarians brought longevity, and won the 1908 Nobel Prize for this.

In addition to lactic acid bacteria, people have now discovered more probiotics that may be beneficial to the body, such as BB-12 animal bifidobacterium. As early as 1987, people began to study its effects on human health. There are also literatures showing that this bifidobacterium has the function of enhancing human immunity. And LGG rhamnosus lactobacillus can also secrete a short peptide to inhibit the growth of certain pathogenic bacteria in the intestine.

The food industry has a solution

So how do we get people to happily eat these live bacteria?

During the fermentation process, microorganisms continue to grow, breaking down food into various metabolites and growing a large number of probiotics. The fermentation process can not only extend the storage time of food, but also make food easier to be digested and absorbed by the human body.

Fermentation is not a unique wisdom of human beings. Even termites have their own fermentation tricks. And the various fermented foods we are familiar with are also full of imagination. For example, the bacteria in rice, Bacillus sporei, makes the storage period of fish longer, so delicious sushi was born.

Humans have been drinking yogurt for thousands of years, but only modern people think about the lactic acid bacteria in it while drinking it. Since probiotics are the soul power of yogurt to mobilize intestinal flora, can lactic acid bacteria be added to other foods?

There is a rumor that a retired scientist eats at the dirtiest fly-infested restaurant every month to supplement his probiotics. Is this true? Of course not!

To supplement probiotics, three conditions must be met. The bacteria must be of the right species, in sufficient quantity, and there must be enough live bacteria to reach our large intestine. Let our food industry scientists figure out these technical tasks.

Crunchy and delicious nuts, sweet and sour dried fruits, and a light yogurt aroma. Today's daily probiotic nuts will make you smile in the mirror.

Hey, how can you be alone? In places you don't see, your old friends, young friends and new friends are silently supporting you.

References:

[1] Yin Shengli et al., “Research Status and Application of Lactic Acid Bacteria”, Food Science and Technology, 2012-04-28

[2] Jiang Haiyin, "Research on the correlation between changes in the diversity of human intestinal microbial communities and depression", 2015-04

[3] Yang Yuanzhi et al., “Application Status and Prospect of Probiotics and Prebiotics in Functional Foods”, China Food Additives, 2009-10-08

[4] Zhai Qixiao et al., “Research Progress on Intestinal Microorganisms and Human Health”, Food Science, 2013-06-18

[5] Wang Zikai and Yang Yunsheng, “Intestinal Microorganisms and Human Diseases”, Journal of PLA Medicine, 2012-12-01

[6] Guo Huiling et al., “Research progress on the relationship between intestinal flora and diseases”, Microbiology Bulletin, 2014-11-17

Source: Vision