Scientists at the California Polytechnic Institute (Caltech) believe they have found a solution to the global antibiotic crisis, which is the emergence of an increasing number and variety of drug-resistant microorganisms (so-called “superbugs”). The solution they found was to use…probiotics.
The use of probiotics to boost immunity and healthy digestion is not new to science in the last century. But recent evidence suggests that probiotics are even more beneficial than previously thought.
In some cases, scientists believe, even treatment with probiotics instead of antibiotics is possible, which is widely practiced today – and which, in fact, led to the current pharmaceutical crisis.
Scientists conducted their experiment on mice, one group of which was grown in sterile conditions – they did not have any microflora in the intestines, neither beneficial nor harmful. The other group ate a special diet with probiotics. The scientists immediately noticed that the first group was, in fact, unhealthy – they had a reduced content of immune cells (macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils), compared to mice that ate and lived normally. But it was really noticeable who was more fortunate when the second phase of the experiment began – the infection of both groups with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which is dangerous for both mice and humans (Listeria monocytogenes).
The mice of the first group invariably died, while the mice of the second group got sick and recovered. Scientists managed to kill part of the mice of the second group only … using antibiotics, which are usually prescribed for people with this disease. The antibiotic weakened the body as a whole, which led to death.
Thus, a group of American scientists led by professor of biology, bioengineer Sarks Matsmanian came to a paradoxical, albeit logical, conclusion: treatment “on the face” with the use of antibiotics can lead to the loss of both harmful and beneficial microflora, and the deplorable result of the course of a number of diseases as a result of the weakening of the body. At the same time, the use of probiotics helps the body “get sick” and defeat the disease on its own – by strengthening its own innate immunity.
It turned out that the consumption of food containing probiotics, directly, and more than expected, affects the strengthening of immunity. The use of probiotics, which was discovered by the Nobel Laureate Professor Mechnikov, is now getting a kind of “second wind”.
Scientists have proven that the preventive regular use of probiotics is, in fact, a panacea for many diseases, because. increases the quantity and gives a full variety of beneficial protective microflora in the body, which nature itself is assigned to solve all the problems of a healthy body.
A proposal has already been made in the United States based on the results of the data obtained, to replace standard antibiotic treatment with probiotics in the treatment of a number of diseases and in the course of postoperative rehabilitation of patients. This will primarily affect the postoperative period after operations that are not related to the intestines – for example, if the patient had a knee operation, prescribing probiotics will be more effective than antibiotics. One can only hope that the initiative of the easy-going American scientists will be picked up by physicians in other countries of the world.
Recall that the richest sources of probiotics are vegetarian foods: “live” and including homemade yogurt, sauerkraut and other natural marinades, miso soup, soft cheeses (brie and the like), as well as acidophilus milk, buttermilk and kefir. For normal nutrition and reproduction of probiotic bacteria, it is necessary to take prebiotics in parallel with them. Including, if you list only the most important “prebiotic” foods, you need to eat bananas, oatmeal, honey, legumes, as well as asparagus, maple syrup and Jerusalem artichoke. You can, of course, rely on special nutritional supplements with pro- and prebiotics, but this requires specialist advice, like taking any medication.
The main thing is that if you eat a variety of vegetarian food, then everything will be fine with your health, because. the body’s defenses will effectively cope with diseases!