Probiotics are by now a familiar concept to anyone with a television. Adverts attesting to the benefits of ‘friendly bacteria’ for health, particularly in reference to digestive health have been bombarding us for at least a couple of years by this point. By now, we are all aware that yogurts infused with some sort of mystery bacteria can help us stay more regular.

Cynics may argue that this is all pseudo-science dreamed up by ad executives in the same way that shampoo adverts are widely lambasted for making up scientific sounding words. However, when it comes to probiotics, there is some serious science to back it up.

The original observations that certain bacteria could play a positive role in the body, and later speculation that we could replace harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract with positive bacteria, were made by Russian Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff.

Although the advertisements would have you believe that the science had not progressed much beyond this, there have actually been numerous studies since enquiring into the effects of probiotics on our health.

What has been discovered is that there are many different strains of bacteria and other microorganisms that can be said to have a beneficial effect on their hosts, and this makes up the official WHO definition of what probiotics are. What is being identified now is what strain has what effect on health.

As such, although the public may be left with the impression that ‘friendly bacteria’ exists solely to regulate our digestion, these are merely the best known. There are other strains with other uses, and there may be many more yet to be discovered.

The science may be simplified for the benefit of the consumer, but the area of probiotics is a very exciting one, and it will certainly be interesting to see what the future holds for it.

This content was provided by one of our users, nick247