Everyone is terrified by the word “bacteria.” Why? Because we know how damaging bacteria are to our health, leading to pain and complications such as infections, limb amputations, and sometimes death. Fortunately due to antibiotics, infected wounds and organs are treated and lives are saved.
But, do we need to resort to such powerful drugs every time we have a septic throat or wound, intestinal or urinary infection, or inflamed gums? No, because we have internal “good bacteria” that make our immune systems powerful enough to destroy invasive “bad bacteria.” Beneficial bacteria coexist harmoniously with pathogens in our bodies to protect from infections, thus maintaining health balance, symbiosis. Let us explore how ‘good bacteria’ work to keep us healthy and well.
Our body carries billions of beneficial bacteria to counteract microorganisms. They are our first line of defense. They are vital to the digestive tract well-being, the most exposed system to pathogens and that is through food ingestion. They also support metabolic functions by expediting the digestive process. How is that?
Probiotics, or ‘beneficial bacteria,’ deter the proliferation of ‘bad bacteria’ by producing a moderately acidic solution in the gut to eliminate the “bad guys.” Probiotics encourage mucus to attract good microbes in the gut to expel the invaders.
The coexistence of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the gut spares us digestive disorders like diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gas, bloating, discomfort, indigestion, and malabsorption. Moreover, dysbiosis, bacterial imbalance, can lead to other problems unrelated to the digestion like recurrent colds and infections, urinary tract and prostate infections, infertility, and suppressed immunity, while increasing cancer incident. Let us see what provokes dysbiosis.
Symbiosis can be disturbed by certain factors like mental, emotional, and physical pressures, sleep loss, unbalanced nutrition, antibiotics and other drugs, environmental toxins, and chemotherapy.
Despite their life-saving effects, antibiotics can be most disruptive to the body’s bacterial balance. They destroy pathogens along with the intestinal microflora, the beneficial bacteria, which protect the digestive system. The elimination of the good bacteria gives opportunity for harmful bacteria to spread fast and make noxious compounds, which provoke gas, bloating, severe cramps, and diarrhea. Side-effects of antibiotics are not only limited to the digestive tract, but to other disorders.
With such imbalances, bacterial and yeast infections can flourish in other parts of the body such as the female urogenital tract.
Probiotic supplements have been shown to restore bacterial equilibrium by deterring the multiplication of microbes, preventing bacterial and viral gastroenteritis. In studies, probiotic therapies have also been effective in reducing food allergies and eczema; healing and warding off urinary tract infections; lowering incidents of cold sores; and sometimes decreasing cholesterol levels.
In a Belgian study, a correlation was found between vaginal bacterial dysbiosis with reproductive disorders such as difficulty getting pregnant, early abortions, and premature labor.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Nobel Prize winner Elie Metchnikoff found a connection between Bulgarian peasants’ good health and longevity and fermented milk. He believes that “Lactobacilli can displace toxin producing bacteria, promoting health and prolonging life.”
Suppressed immunity can be boosted by probiotic therapy. When Finnish children drank milk fortified with probiotics, they experienced less incidents of respiratory problems.
With probiotic therapy, success of healing is possible. It reduces digestive disorders and recurrent colds and decreases the risk of respiratory, sinus, bladder, urinary, and prostate infections. A bonus of the treatment is resistance to viral and infectious diarrhea in travelers.
Fermented foods like yogurt, kefir and soy-based tempeh and miso contain “friendly bacteria.” A healthy choice of yogurt should carry the label, “live active cultures.” Yogurt mixed with fruit chunks, nuts, seeds, and cereals makes tasty dishes, rich in nutrients, “good” bacteria, and fiber and maintains health balance. Probiotic supplements are an alternative to probiotic dietary intake. If it interests you to enjoy a healthy long life, enrich your nutrition with probiotics. Believe me, you will see a big difference!
(Mariam Alireza is a holistic science specialist. Send comments to [email protected]. Log on to arabnews.com for previous articles.)
