Probiotics. We’ve all heard of them. Most of us have probably even eaten some. Some of us have eaten lots of them. But how many of us actually know what they are? Much like me when I notice a toddler sitting on the floor next to some now-missing Legos, some of you may find yourselves asking “What are we putting in our mouths?” The answer for that toddler is obvious: multiple Legos. But for us and probiotics, it is not that simple. And because it is not that simple, we reached out to Dr. David Mills, Ph.D., a professor in the University of California, Davis, Department of Food Science, who is a microbiologist and an expert in gut health. Believe us when we tell you, he gave us a lot of information to ~digest~.
What are probiotics?
It turns out that the answer to this question depends on who you ask. The definition Professor Mills likes best comes from the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), which is essentially a big club full of companies and academics whose mission is to better understand what probiotics are and educate the public about them. They define probiotics as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” I know—vague, right? Turns out probiotics don’t even have to be food! But specifically in the world of food, probiotics are any microscopic living things in your food that make you feel better in some way after you eat them. Seems simple, right? Wrong. Dr. Mills (and ISAPP) both make it very clear that in this scientific definition, there must be studies proving the positive effects of a specific microorganism for it to be considered a probiotic. In the grocery aisles, however, this part about “proven” effects sometimes flies out the window.
Since probiotics don’t have a legal definition enforced by the government, companies can essentially claim anything is a probiotic. That said, while there are some products out there that aren’t doing much, Dr. Mills assured me that foods like Yakult, various yogurts, some probiotic juices, and other foods out there that use specific strains of bacteria with proven benefits are probiotic and are, largely, pretty good for us.
What are the benefits of probiotics? Do probiotics make you poop? Is yogurt the secret to morning constitutionals that happen like clockwork?
When I asked Professor Mills about some of the positive effects people have found through these studies on common probiotics, he mentioned “improved gut transit time,” which means they poop more frequently. Additionally, he says that some probiotics have helped people improve their immune response, which he says doctors can gauge by looking at antigen response six months after a patient receives a vaccine. And if you eat probiotics while you are on a course of antibiotics (which kills off good and bad bacteria in your body), the probiotics can also help repopulate your gut with good bacteria. How would that manifest to us, the havers of said guts? Dr. Mills says probiotics can lessen antibiotic-associated diarrhea. And hey, let the record show that we here at Sporked are all for less diarrhea. In the world of diarrhea, we take a hard stance of anti. I know—we are so brave.
The most proven and common benefit of probiotics, according to Dr. Mills, may actually surprise you. He says that probiotics are what allow lactose intolerant people to be able to consume yogurt. How could that possibly work?
Dr. Mills begins his explanation at the beginning—the very beginning. “When you’re a baby, you can of course consume milk, and that has lactose in it, so you express an enzyme called beta-galactosidase that cleaves that glucose and galactose,” Dr. Mills says. Basically, we are born able to break down and process lactose. But as babies wean off milk, they no longer produce that sweet, sweet dairy-cleaving enzyme, and that’s how lactose intolerance rears its head. But here’s the thing. When you eat yogurt, Dr. Mills says, “You’re eating a yogurt of organisms that were able to grow on the lactose because they have a beta-galactosidase”—yes, that very same dairy cleaving enzyme we had as babies. “So,” he adds, “you’ve just populated that yogurt with a whole bunch of microbes that have that enzyme, it’s kind of like you’re delivering a bag of those enzymes into your system.”
Basically, the professor is saying that yogurt gives you lactose and the stuff that can break it down. Sort of like if you downed a Lactaid pill using a shot of milk. Fascinating stuff.
What’s the difference between prebiotics and probiotics?
Dr. Mills confirmed that prebiotics are essentially things you can eat that are not alive (as opposed to probiotics) that provide food for the bacteria in your gut, including any probiotics you may have eaten. When those bacteria get enriched by prebiotics, they multiply. This is good because the more helpful bacteria that are in there, the more efficiently they can have whatever positive effect it is they have, whether that is helping you poop more often or some other, equally exciting benefit.
Prebiotics can be helpful even if you haven’t eaten any probiotics, because, as Dr. Mills explains, “Your gut has bifidobacteria and lactobacillus [two kinds of bacteria that are also common, proven probiotics] in it, naturally occurring, along with lots of other beneficial bugs [bacteria] in your gut.” Prebiotics will enrich those lil guys whether they were already in your gut or they were ones you got from eating some yogurt for lunch.
Essentially, when you eat (or drink) prebiotics, that is fiber and other similar things that probiotics like to eat. Those enriched probiotics multiply, and probiotics help you break down the stuff you eat and get nutrients out of it, so more of them, as Dr. Mills said, is a good thing, generally speaking. It’s an entire food chain down there just constantly workin’ their butts off to help you work your butt off…more regularly.
In conclusion…
Well folks, we learned a lot here today. And while I still feel like more of an amateur-biotic than a pro-biotic, I do know a lot more about my intestines. Of foods and supplements that purport to transport those benign-to-good microbes to our guts, Dr. Mills says, “I think it’s all good. Fermented foods, foods that have proven probiotics, do the whole mix.”Well, you heard the man. I’m off to eat some kimchi, drink some Yakult, and talk to anyone who will listen about my super speedy gut transit time.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!