In recent years, people's quality of life has been improving, the food on the table has become more and more exquisite, but people's physical activities have become less and less. Constipation has become an unspeakable secret for more and more modern people.
Constipation not only seriously affects the quality of life, but is also related to some anorectal diseases, such as hemorrhoids and anal fissures. Constipation also has a great impact on the occurrence of diseases such as colon cancer, breast disease, and Alzheimer's disease. What is particularly serious is that constipation is also one of the common causes of acute myocardial infarction and stroke.
"Intestinal autotoxicity is a major obstacle to longevity." Nobel Prize winner in medicine and Russian microbiologist and immunologist Metchnikoff clearly stated in his book "Prolonging Life" that intestinal health is the best secret to longevity in the world.
There are various probiotic products on the market now, many of which claim to be able to "regulate intestinal bacteria" and "improve indigestion", making many white-collar workers who have been sedentary for long periods and lack exercise very excited. However, do the probiotic products on the market improve intestinal problems and help digestion?
First, let's learn about probiotics.
Intestinal bacteria in the human body can be divided into three categories: harmful bacteria, opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, and beneficial bacteria (probiotics):
Harmful bacteria are on the opposite side of human health;
Opportunistic pathogens are wall-riders, either causing infection or stimulating the anti-infection ability of the intestinal immune system. They are enemies or friends, depending on the conditions;
Probiotics are a good helper for intestinal health.
Probiotics, originally derived from Greek, "Pro" means "beneficial to" and "biotics" means "life". Understood, it means "beneficial to life". At the same time, it is also called "the future of probiotics" by scientists. vaccine". Probiotics are a type of active microorganisms that are beneficial to the host. They exist in the human intestinal tract and reproductive system and can produce health effects.
What conditions must be met for probiotics to benefit the body?
For probiotics to work in the human body, they must meet at least the following three strict conditions, and none of them is missing.
Condition 1: Need to obtain specific strains of bacteria.
Each type of probiotics plays different functions. If you want to improve intestinal health and promote digestion, you must drink probiotics that can promote digestion, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium.
Condition 2: A sufficient amount of probiotics must be obtained.
There are hundreds of trillions of bacteria in our intestines, and too few probiotics won't be effective. Generally speaking, you need to eat more than 100 million live bacteria at one time and take them continuously for some time to achieve the effect.
Condition 3: Ensure that the probiotics entering the intestine are active, which is also the most important.
Since live bacteria have very strict environmental requirements, slight changes in external temperature and environmental factors inside and outside the human body will cause the death of a large number of live bacteria, while dead bacteria do not affect the intestinal tract. Even if some probiotics survive, it is difficult for them to enter the intestine through gastric juice to play a role. Even if they pass the test of gastric juice, the final amount entering the intestine is very small.
From this point of view, currently, commercially available probiotic products are almost unable to meet the above three conditions. If you have abdominal pain, bloating, or constipation, drinking probiotic drinks is not reliable.
Can probiotics replace medications?
Research shows that the "Therapeutic Value of Probiotics in Functional Diarrhea" published in June 2012 found that taking probiotics can effectively relieve the symptoms of functional diarrhea and effectively prevent the occurrence of constipation during the treatment process. Another study titled "Research Progress on the Treatment Effect of Probiotics on Functional Constipation in People of Different Ages" published in the "World Chinese Journal of Digestion" in December 2012 found that functional constipation refers to conditions that are not caused by systemic diseases or intestinal diseases. The incidence of primary persistent constipation ranges from 2.0% to 37.5% in different populations. The intestinal microecology of patients with constipation is different from that of healthy people, and supplementing with probiotics can change this phenomenon.
These studies show that even if the above three conditions are met, probiotics only play an auxiliary role in improving intestinal health and cannot achieve direct therapeutic effects, let alone replace drugs. If you need to use probiotics to balance the flora in the body, treat diseases, and restore human health, you must go to a professional hospital and receive probiotic treatment with strict medical significance.
references
[1] Zhang Lifang, Zhao Xiaoping. Progress in the prevention and treatment of functional constipation with probiotics [J]. World Chinese Journal of Digestion, 2012, 20(12): 1036-1040.
[2]A systematic review of randomized controlled trials: Probiotics for functional constipation[J]. Anna Chmielewska,Hania Szajewska. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2010(01)
[3] Chen Guoyi, Xu Wenxin. The therapeutic value of probiotics in functional diarrhea [J]. Chinese Medical Innovation, 2012, 9(16): 54-55.
[4] Wu Yingtao, Yuan Jieli. Application of probiotics in the treatment of intestinal diseases [J]. Infectious Disease Information, 2015, 28(04): 245-250.