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Insight
All you need to know about the microbiome good bacteria a healthy gut
Insight
All you need to know about the microbiome good bacteria a healthy gut
What is good bacteria?
Despite what we have been led to believe, not all bacteria are bad.
Our bodies are hosts to trillions of bacterial cells, which outnumber our own (human) cells and we are increasingly discovering the role that they play in supporting our the healthy function of our bodies. These bacteria live throughout our whole body – on our skin, in our mouths, in our urogenital tract and in our gastrointestinal system.
The bacteria that we hear about most are those living in our digestive system and this is what we will focus on here.
The gut microbiome
Each of us has around 100,000 billion live bacteria living in our intestines. These are referred to collectively as the gut microbiome, the gut microbiota or sometimes the gut microflora.
This gut microbiome forms part of the overall human body microbiome, which is made up of all the billions of bacteria that live with us throughout our bodies – both the commensal (good) bacteria and the potentially opportunist bacteria.
We each have our own unique microbiome, which is established at birth and through the first few years of life and then lives with us throughout our life. And research is continuously demonstrating the importance of this microbiome (particularly the gut microbiome) in supporting our health and resilience.
Probiotics & Antibiotics
Research has shown that taking friendly bacteria (probiotics) alongside antibiotics can help to maintain a healthy balance of the bacteria in the gut.
This may help to reduce the adverse effects of antibiotics, which are likely to destroy all bacteria and not just the unwanted pathogenic types.
Taking ProVen with food
Probiotics should always be taken with food.
This will help to ensure that the bacteria are not destroyed by the stomach acid, which has a higher pH (lower acidity) when food is in the stomach – more acid is produced to digest the food, but it is neutralised by the food.
Good bacteria and you
A-Z Glossary
Have you come across a term or phrase that you don’t understand? Welcome to our Probiotics Glossary – designed to help explain the long list of jargon associated with the gut in general and probiotics in particular