Gut microbiota - health start in our gut

As I mentioned earlier I have been wanting to write an article on a subject discussed by the different speakers such as Professeur Joyeux, the nutritionist Marion Kaplan and Dr Natacha Campbell among others during the International congress of natural health that took place in Paris in October 2016.

WHAT IS MICROBIOTA?
Gut microbiota formerly called gut flora or bacterial flora contains more than 100 trillion microorganisms living in the large intestine. One third of our gut microbiota is common to most people, while the two thirds are specific to each one of us.

INFLUENCES
Different elements such as birth delivery, breast or bottle feeding, environment and hygiene can modify  the birth bacterial colonies, which becomes more complex as we age, medication use and dietary diversification.

COMPOSITION:
The composition varies throughout our entire life for short periods depending on external conditions: diet composition, viral and bacterial infections, antibiotic use….. this short term modification can have negative consequences on our heath when accumulated over the years.

Gut microbiota in our intestines weigh between 1 to 5 kg and feeds on what we eat.  It is fundamental to the breakdown and absorption of nutrients. Without it, the majority of our food intake would not be digested and the critical needed nutrients would not be extracted.
Our organism is an ecosystem containing a collection of microbes or microorganisms that need harmony and balance to keep someone’s health.

MAINTENANCE:
We have two ways to maintain the variety of this ecosystem:

• a probiotic approach where we ingest directly the bacterias that we need to acquire in adequate amounts for health benefits
• a prebiotic approach where non-digestible vegetal fibers are ingested and arrive intact in our intestines to serve as food for the probiotics in our intestines

Both pre and probiotics are fundamental to the breakdown and absorption of nutrients, they maintain beneficial symbiotic bacteria in our body, they improve intestinal transit, increase absorption of proteins and minerals, lower intestinal gas, prevent and treat diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome.

An interesting website that reviews some probiotics available on the american market
http://www.reviews.com/probiotic-supplement/
and  article on a probiotic yogurt available in France 
http://www.vitaliseurdemarion.fr/officiel/probiotique-dexception-k-philus/