It’s no surprise that just like humans, even bacteria can be good or bad. In the microbiological arena, ‘probiotics’ are typically considered the ‘good’ bacteria that help support the microbiome. Basically, probiotics hang with the healthy crowd.
Since the time probiotics were first discovered by the Russian scientist and Nobel Prize winner, Elie Metchnikoff (Father of Probiotics), dozens of researchers (from Henry Tissler, who detected the presence of Bifidobacteria in infants to Lilly and Stillwell, who coined the term Probiotic) have placed their own version. Going by the relevant definition of WHO/FAO, it says, “probiotics are live organisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”
Yakult. Probiotics without Yakult is like a diary without pages. It’s incomplete. Mentioning about Yakult becomes all the more important because most Indians were introduced to the idea of probiotics via this nutritional sour drink. Indians happily accepted its conferred therapeutic benefits, thus the Yakult market was largely successful. But what correlates the idea of sour drink and immunity?
The notion of fermentation paved the way for probiotics. It was widely believed that drinking fermented milk could cure intestinal problems. Climates in the Middle East and Asia favored souring of milk products, which were recommended for gut illness. With this curiosity, research on probiotic strains of bacteria started and in 1930, Dr Minoru Shirota, a scientist in Japan became the first in the world to succeed in culturing a strain of Lactic acid bacteria beneficial to human health. ‘Shirota’, does this ring a bell? If you have ever grabbed Yakult, and read the inscription below, you must have noticed, “Contains Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota”. Now you know the etymology behind those 6.5 billion strains of beneficial bacteria!
Don’t worry. These tiny creatures do wonder to our gut. After 80 years of scientific research and experiments, it has been found that-
- athletes who consumed this strain had a reduced chance of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection.
- children who regularly had Yakult, the incidence of acute diarrhea was greatly lowered.
- potential benefits of probiotics have been seen in the treatment or prevention of irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infections, ulcerative colitis
It’s said you are what you eat. And Kenyans enthusiastically believe in this ideology. Away from the world of sugary sodas and preservatives, Kenyans are popularizing a fermented tea loaded with tons of wholesomeness. Kombucha- tea fermented by probiotics. The drink contains polyphenols, acetic acid and antioxidants that kill harmful bacteria and boost the immune system. Research says a cup of Kombucha can fight against cancer too. So, you see it’s the health boons that urges sippers to ask for another brew!
Besides Vladimir Putin, Russia is famous for Kefir, a foamy effervescent product resulting from mixed lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation of milk. Apart from the unique flavor profile and the natural viscosifying effect of the kefiran, kefir is widely recognized for its health-promoting (probiotic) properties, including reduction of lactose mal-digestion, antitumor activity, antiallergenic effects, and therapeutic activity against colon carcinogens, and arteriosclerosis. Now you know why Kefir is derived from the Turkish word ‘keyif’- meaning feeling good after eating. It is the “Champagne of Fermented Beverages” for a reason.
Fermented and cultured foods, like kefir and sauerkraut, are rife with probiotics. These microbes give ‘yoghurt’ its tang, ‘kimchi’ its funk, and the fermentation preserves vegetables and other items that might otherwise rot. It also makes certain food nutritious, as the authors of a 2016 study published in Current Opinion in Biotechnology note- “It is increasingly understood that some fermented foods promote human health in ways not directly attributable to the starting food materials. That is, the outcomes of fermentation, and the contribution of microbes, in particular, can provide additional properties, beyond basic nutrition.”
While there’s no definitive understanding of exactly how or why diets rich in yoghurt or fermented vegetables support overall health, their friendly microbes seem to render certain nutrients in the food more easily digestible, making the actual cucumber, cabbage or soybeans more nutritious.
It should be noted that the positive effects of bacteria can be negated by our lifestyle choices. For example, some of the biggest threats to probiotics are chlorine in our water supplies and antibiotics in pesticide or herbicide residues on fruits and vegetables. These can kill pathogenic bacteria, but they will inhibit our friendly bacteria too. Basically, they cancel out the positive effects.
Let’s end on a sweet note. Probiotic ice cream, the latest innovation in the arena of probiotic foods. Besides being a functional food, ice-cream in itself contains beneficial substances such as dairy raw materials, vitamins & minerals, and is consumed by the general population. So, along with chocolate and pistachio, we can now gulp 3 million live cultures of patented strains of probiotic in a scoop, without worrying about breaking our diet. Shall we dive into a bucket of vanilla, then?
Join our communities and connect with Comunev:
Website: www.comunev.com
Connect with Comunev Communities: https://go.comunev.com/comunev
Comunev Communities on Slack: https://bit.ly/3bhwZv9
Download our app: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.comunev
Also, follow us on our social media platforms for updates:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/comunev/
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/comunevindia/
