Korean kimchi pots

“The science and art of fermentation is…the basis of human culture: without culturing, there is no culture.”¹

This point is illustrated when one recognizes that consumption of beneficial bacteria through food and drink has been part of humans’ diet for as long as humans have existed.  A traditional diet used fermentation to preserve vegetables and milk and to make wine, naturally infusing these foods with beneficial bacteria.  However, as manufactured and preservative laden foods take over many Westerner’s diets, the ingestion of friendly bacteria falls by the wayside.  Not only are we ingesting less beneficial bacteria, but also the growth of harmful bacteria and yeasts are increasing due to diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugars.

Beneficial bacteria are known as probiotic bacteria, and billions of them live in our mouths and small intestines with hundreds of trillions more in our large intestines.  Think of probiotics as the opposite of antibiotics.  The word probiotic breaks down to “pro” meaning “for” and “biotic” meaning “life” as compared to “anti” or “against” life.  If antibiotics kill life (which they do, wiping out all bacteria- harmful and beneficial alike), then probiotics promote it.  We can recognize that there are times when antibiotics are significantly helpful, but we need also to recognize the true importance of health-promoting probiotics.

We have ten times the amount of bacteria in our intestinal tract than cells in our body, and the balance between good and bad bacteria is delicate and of essential importance.  Beneficial bacteria help stop the growth of harmful bacteria, acting as natural antibiotics.  They do this by lowering the pH of the gastrointestinal tract through the production of lactic acid.  Probiotics increase immune function by preventing harmful microbes from leaving the intestinal tract and entering into the bloodstream.  They improve overall digestion, and are often used to treat digestive maladies such as diarrhea, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.  They also manufacture some B vitamins (which help the body cope with stress), short chain fatty acids, antioxidants, amino acids, and vitamin K.  Probiotic bacteria produce enzymes that help us digest our food and better absorb its nutrients.  In fact, nutrients in foods fermented with bacterial cultures (such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso and tempeh) are more readily absorbed than the nutrients in their non-fermented counterparts: milk, cabbage and soy.

Only living bacteria can provide these proven health benefits.  However, they have a short life span, so eating fermented foods or ingesting supplemental probiotics on regular basis is necessary to maintain their existence.  Additionally, a diet high in whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables will provide the probiotics with their favorite food: fructooligosaccharides (FOS).  Antibiotics, antacids, synthetic estrogens (in birth control pills and hormone replacement therapies), stress and disease have a negative impact on beneficial intestinal bacteria, discouraging their growth or killing them altogether.

Whether you choose to incorporate fermented foods into your diet or to use probiotic supplements, it is important to consider some factors regarding quality.  Fermented foods or supplements should state that they are live, active, unpasteurized, raw or cultured, a necessity if you want those bacteria alive and active in your intestinal tract.  Pasteurization kills beneficial bacteria, so read labels carefully and call the company directly if you are unsure if the bacteria are still active.  One must also consider bacterial species.  There are 400-500 species of bacteria in the human intestinal tract, with different species more commonly found in the small versus the large intestine.  Lactobacillus acidophilus are bacteria that live in the upper intestinal tract or small intestine.  Bifidobacteria are those in your large intestine, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus are traveling or transient bacteria.  These species, along with Streptococcus thermophilus, have been used to make yogurt for thousands of years.  The beneficial effects of these species have been well established through scientific study and longstanding traditional use.  The quality of probiotics in the supplemental form versus the whole food form is exponentially more complicated.  Each supplement company uses different bacterial species, strains and quantities and uses different delivery systems and manufacturing processes.

As our culture becomes more aware of the benefits probiotics have imparted on other cultures for thousands of years, the food industry is recognizing the potential for increased revenue with probiotic products.  Some companies have gone so far as to put a trademark on specific species.  One company is using a celebrity to market that their yogurt “can help regulate your digestive system by helping reduce long intestinal transit time”².  The bacteria in true natural yogurts, most notably L. acidophilus, have decades worth of scientific studies, not to mention thousands of years of traditional use, showing this same effect- relief from constipation and improved digestion with regular consumption.  The tricky part of the marketing of this new yogurt is that it uses research that compares their yogurt’s benefits to those of yogurt with dead or absent bacteria.  The studies do not compare the trademarked bacterial strain to consumption of “traditional” yogurt.  Unlike this new yogurt, most natural yogurt companies don’t feel the need to trademark a species and sell it as a new food.

With much of today’s society overly dependent on antibiotics and strong preservative systems in our foods, let us consider reincorporating beneficial bacteria through whole, fermented foods and probiotics.  “How ironic that the road to culture in our germophobic technological society requires, first and foremost, that we enter into an alchemical relationship with bacteria and fungi, and that we bring to our tables foods and beverages prepared by the magicians, not machines.”¹

¹ Katz, SE., Wild Fermentation. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2003.
² Scientific Summary for Health Care Professionals.” Activia® by Dannon™. 2008. Dannon™. 26 May 2008.
http://www.activia.us.com/pdf/Act_scientific_summary.pdf

Tags: acidophilus, antibiotics, bacteria, bifidobacteria, constipation, cultured, diarrhea, enzymes, fermentation, probiotics, yogurt