In recent years, Taiwan's awareness of health care has risen, and modern people are busy with their lives, so they often take probiotics and enzymes to help defecation and protect gastrointestinal health.
According to the market research platform Research and Market report, from 2021 to 2030, the global probiotics market will develop at a compound growth rate of 7.5% per year, especially in Asia, which accounts for 40% of the global market share. It can be seen that the concept of taking probiotics has been deeply rooted daily life.
But did you know that lactic acid bacteria are not probiotics?
This article will let you know the introductory knowledge of probiotics, and let consumers know more about probiotics.
What are probiotics
According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, probiotics must be live bacteria, microorganisms that have a healthy effect on the host, and the health benefits must be scientifically verified, and the genus, species, and strain names must be clear. The world has accumulated a lot of international research and published human clinical trials of lactic acid bacteria in well-known academic journals.
Commercially available probiotics are developed with a large amount of R&D resources invested in animal / human experiments to confirm the safety and health efficacy of the strains, and make capsules, powder packets, or health products such as yogurt, so that to be called probiotics.
Benefits of Probiotic Supplementation
Change the ecology of the bacterial flora <br>Irregular diet, irregular life, drug use or stress may lead to an imbalance in the intestinal flora. If harmful bacteria increase, it may cause an imbalance in health. By supplementing probiotics to alter the ecology of the bacterial flora.
Balance the gastrointestinal environment and help digestion <br>Probiotics help regulate the function of the digestive tract and help smooth bowel movements.
Adjust your body constitution <br>Some people have allergies triggered by personal stress or seasonal changes. Probiotics help to adjust the body constitution and relieve allergies.
what is lactic acid bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria refer to bacteria that can metabolize sugars to produce more than 50% lactic acid. Lactic acid bacteria can be seen everywhere in daily life, such as fermented products such as soy sauce, yogurt, yogurt, kimchi, natto, etc., to enhance preservation and enhance flavor.
Lactic acid bacteria are a kind of probiotics, but not all lactic acid bacteria are probiotics, although these lactic acid bacteria may be more or less helpful to intestinal health. But it has not been scientifically verified, so it cannot be called a probiotic.
Can probiotics be taken for a long time? Will there be dependence?
At present, there is no research showing that long-term consumption of probiotics will lead to dependence. Probiotics help to change the ecology of the bacterial flora, but they will not affect the original function of the digestive tract and can be consumed for a long time. When probiotics are stopped, digestion or defecation efficiency is not as good as before, it is likely to need to start with changes in daily life (such as: uneven diet, excessive stress, chaotic work and rest), at this time, adjust with probiotics together to achieve the maximum effect .
On the contrary, probiotics need to regulate the body for a long time. If you only take probiotics for a few days, you will not be able to achieve immediate results. In the early stage of taking, various bacteria will compete with each other for living space in the stomach. After taking probiotics for about 1-2 months, if you obviously feel more energetic, have smooth bowel movements, less allergies and sleep better, then it is a suitable probiotic for you. If you take it for 2-3 months and observe no obvious effect, then you will It is recommended to change the type of probiotics.
What are prebiotics/prebiotics?
Prebiotics (also known as prebiotics) are simply the food of probiotics, which can promote and regulate the effects of probiotics. Usually, prebiotics are added to probiotics as nutrients for probiotics.
Common prebiotics include fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, and inulin.
References:
- About Probiotics - International Probiotics Association
- Biosafety, antioxidant status, and metabolites in urine after consumption of dried cranberry juice in healthy women: a pilot double-blind placebo-controlled trial - PubMed (nih.gov)
- Comparing the difference between probiotics and lactic acid bacteria, can probiotics be taken for a long time? Cracking the ptt myth of probiotics - Caroline Probiotics｜Protect the health of the whole family (carloine.com.tw)
- Probiotics? Lactic acid bacteria? Enzymes? Silly and confused, the types and comparison of probiotics- daikenshop.com
- Are lactic acid bacteria probiotics? 3 minutes to teach you the difference between lactic acid bacteria, probiotics and enzymes! | Dietician Light Food｜Jiang Xinhua Dietitian founded seven years ago (dietician.com.tw)
- Health Net" probiotics, lactic acid bacteria foolishly confused! Experts take you to understand once - Liberty Health Network (ltn.com.tw)
- How to choose the most "ideal" probiotic strain? Adapt measures to local conditions and diversify-Global Biotechnology Monthly | The No. 1 KOL database platform for Chinese biomedical industry (gbimonthly.com)