intestinal flora, a defense barrier. To Waste!

intestinal flora, a defense barrier. To Waste! - Our body holds about 100 trillion bacteria ym of these, most are found in the intestine, specifically in the colon, the most conducive to their natural habitat development and maintenance, and constitute one of our great barriers of defense. This set of bacteria live and feed off each other, and the products of metabolism of some serve as food for others. The intestinal flora is highly variable from one person to another, and there is no single, common pattern.

How to care for the intestinal flora?

Nature provides us with ingredients that help modulate the intestinal flora in our favor. And among them are prebiotics and probiotics.

Prebiotics: they are indigestible food components which promote the growth and activity of certain species of bacteria that benefit us. They are included in our daily diet, since many of them are part of foods like fruits, vegetables, cereals and legumes among others. Therefore, the type of diet has a direct influence on the composition of intestinal flora or microbiota. Hence the importance of a balanced and varied diet to ensure the contribution of these foods respecting the recommended quantity and frequency.

Probiotics: are live microorganisms that when consumed in certain amounts have a positive effect on health. The benefits of probiotics are associated with certain types of bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which can be found in certain foods such as fermented milk (yoghurt) type or nutritional supplement prepared.

Many studies have been conducted to explore in more detail the effect it can have certain strains of bacteria, and thus modulating the intestinal flora, either as treatment or preventively against intestinal inflammatory diseases, infectious diarrhea, chronic constipation or cancer. And it seems that there are sufficient data to show the health benefits of consuming foods containing probiotics and prebiotics.

Health Effects

The biological activity of the intestinal flora plays a crucial role in our body, as involved in digestive processes, serves as a barrier against pathogenic bacteria, and has immunomodulatory effect. A digestive level flora addresses ferment indigestible components such as fiber, and the metabolic activity results in the synthesis of some vitamins complex B (B2, B6, B12) and vitamin K among others, thus constituting a source nutrient for our body.

There are microorganisms that are permanently in the intestine, which are obtained during the first year of life, and others who temporarily pass through the digestive tract, and are ingested through food. When alterations in the intestinal flora are produced and affected the amount and metabolic activity of bacteria considered good, free route allowed the development of other pathogens and disease microorganisms. It should then reset back the balance of flora in order to promote our system, and this is where the diet is especially relevant.