The gut, or gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) is where is all happens.  It is where you digest your food and where you get all your energy.  It is the one function of the body that if it goes wrong, your whole body will feel the effects in short order.

The GI tract is comprised of an array of organs that process your food and protect the body from the other items such as bad bacteria and viruses that make it into your food and water throughout the day.  But the bulk of the genes in the gut are bacterial based such that the gut flora (or beneficial bacteria) is commonly referred to as the “forgotten organ” since it plays such a vital role in your digestive tract.

And different bacterial species live in different regions of the gut.  Some like high acid regions of the stomach and some like low acid regions of the small intestine. Just like you have organs that secrete different enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine, you have different enzymes coming from the bacteria that also provide essential roles indigestion in the various GI regions.  Much of this information is now being discovered.

Probiotics literally means “for life” which is probably true since they do play a vital role in our digestive, metabolic and immune functions.  But being a microbiologist I find it a little bit sad because probiotics are actually “bacteria”.  

Sure, probiotics are just another way to say beneficial or essential bacteria, but I feel we collectively are shying away from saying bacteria because of the germophobe society we live in.  And as a microbiologist I’d rather set the record straight since the truth gives us a greater chance to help people.  I say this because if more to start recognizing good bacteria from bad bacteria and the actions or lifestyle changes that lead to giving good bacteria the upper hand, then we stand a much better chance of improving people’s lives.

As I get started with the Gut Bug Blog, I think it is important that we don’t use this blog site to tell people our mood or just point out the most recent probiotic news.  Rather I think we should educate about the mechanisms within the gut where beneficial bacteria are involved.  This will help set up a framework that shows why probiotics have tremendous potential and why probiotics products with the right ingredients matter.

Then as you read the latest health news or when we point out a specific article you will have deeper insight as to why probiotics are implicated in the headline of the day. I hope you learn lots.