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Good Bugs Or Bad Bugs

Many patients recently have been asking me the importance of probiotics and prebiotics to a healthy diet and gastrointestinal system.

For a healthy body, we need bacteria. Sounds strange! But it’s true-some of the microorganisms that live in our gut help us with vital functions. Without these untold millions of microbial species, we’d have trouble digesting foods as well as facing or dealing with immune challenges. It’s also true that some of our gut hitchhikers don’t help us and could challenge our gut as well.

Indeed, one way to promote gut balance is through the use of probiotics and prebiotics. These are products that work with your body to keep the gut environment healthy.

Probiotics – “Good” Bugs

Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that help support normal balance in the intestinal tract. By adding these bacteria to the digestive tract, there are a number of ways they would improve the gut environment:

They could take up space in the gut, leaving less “free” space for other bacteria.
Interfere with the growth or activity of other bacteria.
Help change the pH of the gut so that it is less hospitable to other types of bacteria.
Support the cells and mucus of the gut.
Attached to other bacteria as they can’t attach to the gut wall.
Probiotic bacteria can be found at a range of products. But when deciding which product is best for you it’s important to determine whether it contains research-supported strains. By using probiotic strains with the research behind them, you can trust that the product is effective and high quality.

Prebiotic – Food for the “Good” Bugs

These are indigestible carbohydrates, used by beneficial bacteria as food. They support a favorable gut environment by selectively stimulating the growth of your unique beneficial bacteria (including Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus). Different bugs prefer different prebiotics -for example Bifidobacteria (found primarily in the colon) seem to prefer GOS, a natural prebiotic originally found in breast milk.

In addition, prebiotics promote gut colonization by desirable bacteria, energize colon cells, improve immune system function and mineral absorption, and help intestinal gene expression and cell differentiation (the process that allows cells to become more specialized).

So, without a doubt, if you’re not taking any probiotics or prebiotics to help promote a healthy gastrointestinal tract then you should be!

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Can Bad Bugs Make You Fat?

Are bacteria to blame for your elastic-waist jeans and poolside muumuu? Did microbes make you devour double bowls of triple-fudge ice cream last night?

It only sounds like a horror movie. A growing stack of research suggests that the mysterious, microscopic “zoo” in your digestive system plays a role in how slim — or pudgy — you are. But don’t even think about trying to figure out which of the countless “probiotic” pills out there might get you into smaller jeans.

We’ve Got a Saner Bug-Control Plan.

The human body hosts trillions of tiny critters, most of who hang out in your intestines. Most are beneficial bugs called probiotics. They break down food, help you absorb certain nutrients, keep your immune system firing on all cylinders, and fend off invaders that can cause a nasty case of the runs. They can even protect against stomach ulcers and urinary tract infections and ease irritable bowel syndrome.

But here’s the thing: There’s now surprising evidence that the wrong gut bugs could make you fat. In one study, obese people were three times more likely than lean folks to have a virus called Ad-36 in their digestive tracts — a bug known to make chickens fatter. Also, some intestinal bacteria seem to trigger bigger appetites and a tendency to store more calories as fat. Researchers even think “fat bugs” might plump you up by pulling more calories from the food you eat.

Happily, there’s also a bit of evidence that good bugs might help you slim down in some circumstances. Among extremely overweight people who had weight loss surgery, those who took a probiotic supplement lost weight faster. And women who took a probiotic during pregnancy had less body fat overall — and less dangerous belly fat — after giving birth than pregnant women who didn’t take probiotics, even though they all followed the same diet.

A whole industry has grown up around probiotic supplements, including probiotic-enhanced foods and “prebiotics,” types of fiber that promote the growth of good bugs. Some products are good. Others are still in question. For example, we don’t yet know enough about the healthiest mix of microbes for weight loss. What we do know: Good bugs are good for your body. So it’s worth taking these steps to keep ’em happy and working hard inside you:

Feed them their favorite foods. It’s way easier to cultivate the good bacteria you already have than to import replacements. To encourage your good bugs to be fruitful and prosper, feed them special prebiotic fibers called inulin and oligosaccharides (don’t try saying either three times fast). And where do you get these yummy fibers? Pretty simple: bananas, asparagus, onions, and garlic; also, dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichokes, and jicama. All are top sources of good prebiotic fibers. Apples may help, too, because they contain pectin, another beneficial prebiotic fiber. And there are some prebiotics in barley, berries, tomatoes, honey, flaxseeds, and beans, too.

Take a probiotic. While you can get probiotics in food pretty easily by consistently eating low-fat yogurt with live active cultures, popping a probiotic supplement is more reliable. We recommend taking one regularly if you’re healthy. The trick is to find formulas that can survive your stomach’s digestive fluids.

We like Premier Labs Probiotic and Galactan Prebiotic powder because it can survive even (burp) the gnarliest mix of stomach acids. If it helps keep you slim and healthy, that’s quite a trade-off.