What are friendly bacteria and why do I need them?
Friendly bacteria are naturally found in your digestive system and makeup part of your gut microbiome. This gut microbiome has several roles in your body including;
+ Helping with the production of vitamins B and K
+ Playing an important role in the development of our immune system
+ Digesting fibre that has not been broken down by the stomach or small and large intestines
+ Helping us combat and overcome harmful microorganisms
+ Supporting the function of our digestive system
This delicate ecosystem can be disturbed by several factors including diet, lifestyle, alcohol and stress. Our range of friendly bacteria supplements delivers live strains of bacteria to help balance your gut microbiome, helping to keep you and your microbes happy and healthy.
What are natural fibres?
Natural fibres are non-digestible fibres which act as a food source for our friendly bacteria, helping them grow and thrive in our gut microbiome. Natural fibres can be found naturally in some foods, including asparagus, garlic, onion, Jerusalem artichoke, banana, barley and rye.
Do I need to take both friendly bacteria and natural fibres?
You do not need to take natural fibres alongside friendly bacteria in order for the friendly bacteria to be effective.
However, we believe it is important to not only provide our gut with friendly bacteria but also the food they need to grow and thrive in our gut microbiome.
You can find several types of natural fibres in our products including fructo-oligosaccharides, soy fibre and gum acacia.
What is Lactobacillus?
Lactobacillus is a genus of bacteria. This group contains a large number of different types of bacteria that produce lactic acid.
Within this genus there are several bacterial species which are naturally present in the human gut, these include Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus acidophillus. They can also be found in fermented foods like yoghurt.
Bacteria from this genus have been featured in countless clinical trials. For example, Lactabacillus rhamnosus GG is one of the most clinically researched strain of friendly bacteria and can be found in one of our products, Probio7 Kidskalm.
What is Bifidobacterium?
Bifidobacterium is a genus of bacteria.
Within this genus there are several bacterial species which are naturally present in the large intestine, these include Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium infantis and Bifidobacterium breve, to name a few.
Species of Bifidobacterium are dominant in healthy infants. Probio7 Bifikalm, which has been specifically formulated for infants 2 months + contains a species of Bifidobacterium that is found naturally in healthy infants gut microbiome.
What is Saccharomyces boulardii?
Saccharomyces boulardii is a friendly strain of yeast. It has been used for the last 30 years to support the gastrointestinal tract. Saccharomyces boulardii has been well-researched and has been used safely for many years.
What is CFU?
CFU stands for colony-forming unit. This term is used to describe the number of viable bacterial cells in a sample.
Viable bacteria is defined as capable of surviving or living successfully, especially under particular environmental conditions.
For example, if a friendly bacteria supplement says it contains 10 billion CFU per capsule, this means it contains 10 billion live friendly bacteria per capsule.
Where do the bacteria come from?
The majority of our strains were initially isolated from the digestive tract of healthy humans and others were extracted from dairy sources, such as yoghurt.
This does not mean that the friendly bacteria in our supplements have been taking directly from humans.
The original strains that were initially isolated from a human digestive tract are stored in friendly bacteria 'banks' and the bacteria are cultured by scientists in laboratories to make identical copies that are then used in our supplements.