What is the relationship between probiotics and intestinal health?

Intestine is the main place for digestion and absorption of nutrients. At the same time, there are many kinds of flora in the intestine, which play a dual role in regulating host nutrition metabolism and promoting the maturity of mucosal immune system under the unique environmental conditions of the intestine. Probiotics is a kind of microecological preparation, which is mainly composed of live bacteria. In human and animal intestines, through complex relationships such as liveness, bias, competition or phagocytosis, the balance of microecological flora in host intestines can be improved, and then the beneficial metabolism of food can be promoted, immunity can be improved and metabolic diseases can be prevented.

1. Probiotics and Intestinal Barrier

Intestinal barrier and intestinal flora are two main factors to ensure intestinal health. Intestinal barrier is the first line of defense against pathogenic microorganisms and food allergens entering the intestine, and probiotics can protect this line of defense. Probiotics stimulate the production of intestinal epithelial mucin, promote the secretion of β defensin by intestinal epithelial cells, and enhance the self-protection ability of intestinal epithelial cells. At the same time, it increases the effect of tight junction protein on epithelial cell layer and resists the destruction of tight junction of epithelial cells by pathogens.

2. Probiotics and diarrhea

Diarrhea is a common disease in pediatrics, and the intestinal immune function in childhood is not perfect. The younger you are, the more fragile the intestinal microecological balance is, and the more vulnerable you are to viruses, bacteria, food toxins, drugs, allergies, systemic diseases and other factors. Supplementing probiotics has a good therapeutic effect on children's diarrhea. Probiotics colonize and proliferate in the intestine, forming a protective biological barrier, and at the same time fermenting to produce acetic acid and lactic acid, and also producing some antibacterial active substances, forming a chemical barrier with extensive antibacterial effects. It can also stimulate the body's immune system to produce immune active substances and form an immune barrier.

3. Probiotics and inflammatory bowel disease

The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease is not clear, but it is generally believed that the participation of intestinal microorganisms plays an important role. Treatment with probiotics can alleviate the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease through the interaction of intestinal epithelial cells.

4. Probiotics and irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a series of syndromes characterized by abdominal pain, changes in defecation habits and flatulence, but with normal intestinal structure. A systematic review of 23 kinds of probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome shows that probiotics can improve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and relieve abdominal pain.

To sum up, probiotics are closely related to intestinal health. However, it is worth mentioning that the role of probiotics in maintaining intestinal health varies from species to species, and the main action pathways and activities of probiotics in different species may be different. At present, most studies show that mixed bacteria preparation is more effective than single live bacteria preparation. However, it is worth reminding that there is no need to buy such products if the baby has no symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort such as diarrhea. Because as long as the diet is balanced and not partial eclipse, the food intake every day can basically meet the needs of intestinal flora balance, and there is no need to take probiotic drugs. If you exaggerate the efficacy of probiotic products, such as improving immunity, you are actually fooling parents and friends, which deserves vigilance.