Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Significance of Intestinal Bacteria

By Richard Bell

Intestinal Bacteria, commonly called Gut Flora are organisms that live in our intestines and keep us healthy by performing numerous significant tasks. On an average a human is known to have about thirty trillion microorganisms in their stomach, with more than five hundred types. They are as responsible for performing work as any of our main organs, but are never mentioned as something we need in order to stay healthy.

Our faeces are about sixty percent bacteria, which is why doctors ask for a sample when we have an intestinal problem. This is the most non-invasive manner in which tests could be done to find the reason of the upset stomach.

When babies are born they have no bacteria in their system, but their body rapidly picks up bacteria from the mother and from the nearby environment, and after a few months their body builds up the healthy bacteria. Babies who are born by caesarean deliveries are likely to take a longer period of time to be able to build up these bacteria as compared to babies who are born normally.

The bacteria in our stomach is responsible for several different tasks such as fermenting, maintaining a healthy immune system, regulating harmful bacteria, creating vitamins, and helping us in the storage of fats. The first thing they are responsible for is they are able to break down carbohydrates; as a result our body can absorb the nutrients from it. Without these bacteria, we would not be able to break down a lot of food that we eat, and therefore would need to eat more to stay healthy.

These bacteria also prevent the harmful bacteria from growing in our digestive tract. Due to the competition in the tract between several classes of bacteria for space, the bad bacteria are not able to survive because the useful bacteria do not permit them to take up any space. Humans without any intestinal bacteria are much more likely to be exposed to diseases as compared to those with normal levels.

These bacteria are also considered to be helpful to build up our immune system so we dont fall sick. Due to a tolerance for healthy bacteria that we develop in our young age, the immune system is able to fight the bad bacteria, as a result only good bacteria are left behind. These bacteria are also helpful in preventing the allergies and inflammatory bowel disease.

However, today the use of antibiotics and other medicines is increasingly upsetting our digestive system, since the medicines do not differentiate between the different types of bacteria in our body and wipe out the bad bacteria and the good. This leads to diarrhoea and other illnesses of the bowel. While we may not be consuming antibiotics deliberately, a lot of the dairy and meat we consume now contains antibiotics, which are given to the animals to prevent illnesses. The use of Probiotics is now popular to help the good bacteria thrive in the gut, since probiotics aid the bacteria in their functions by helping fight harmful bacteria and boosting the immune system.

It is important to know that not all bacteria are bad for us, and that our body has many millions of bacteria in it that are actually helping it stay healthy. - 14130

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