Bacteria are the oldest living things on Earth, have excellent adaptability, and live in symbiosis with plants, animals, and humans. In addition to other microorganisms (unicellular, fungi, archaea), thousands of bacteria live and operate in our bodies and on the surface of it for its health.
Human medicine
The largest proportion of them is in our intestinal system (about 1.5 kilograms of bacteria live in a 70-pound person). These microorganisms are collectively called the microbiome, or better known as the intestinal flora. Although we would be able to survive without them, the composition of the intestinal flora plays a huge role in our health.
We are aware that babies are still vulnerable to environmental damage, precisely because they do not yet have bacteria, they do not have an established intestinal flora (some are already received during natural childbirth, but most of them they receive by breastfed and gradually accustomed to the environment). This is why it is important, for example, to make them habituated only gradually to the various nutrients of which digestion certain types of bacteria are essential.
By breast feeding, and supplementary feeding the body gets to know the nutrients that the child will typically consume due to local and family eating habits, and the intestinal flora also adapts itself to them: there will be a bacterial habitat in the intestinal tract that helps digest typical foods. For instance, for a vegetarian, one that supports the digestion of vegetables, while for example, those leading a “Hungarian” type of diet will have a higher number of protein-degrading bacteria.
The intestinal flora, besides being involved in digestion by various enzymes, also protects the intestinal mucosa, producing vitamins, while some bacteria inhibit the growth of parasites. This is why it is very important that doctors also prescribe probiotics for antibiotic treatment.
In addition to digestion, the healthy microbiome and intestinal flora also play an important role in the overall wellness of our body, including healthy brain function. Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between intestinal health and brain function in both depressive disorders and patients with memory loss such as Alzheimer’s. The composition of the intestinal flora is related to a healthy lifestyle in another way: athletes and regular exercisers have a demonstrably higher proportion of certain bacteria. What’s more, probiotic preparations containing lactobacilli are now favourably consumed by athletes as a dietary supplement to enhance their performance, as a kind of legal – and last but not least safe, and especially healthy – doping agent.