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Your microbiome is the collection of all the microbes that live in your gut. It is an ecosystem of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria. An imbalance can have a negative impact on immunity, intestinal health and even mental wellbeing. Introducing: probiotics.
Let’s dive a little deeper into the increasing popularity of probiotics, including benefits, applications and usage across the food and drink industry.
Probiotics are defined as ‘good’, ‘friendly’ live microorganisms — bacteria and yeasts — that when administered in adequate amounts, provide health benefits. Some of the most popular examples of these ‘helpful’ probiotic microorganisms include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Saccharomyces boulardii.
The name comes from Greek — ‘pro’ and ‘biotic’, meaning ‘for life’. Diet is a key factor in the composition of microbes in your gut. Often incorporated into ‘functional foods’, probiotics affect the nerves that control gut movement, helping food move through the intestine. They affect the balance of your gut bacteria, allowing ‘good’ bacteria to crowd out the ‘bad’.
Probiotics are measured in colony forming units (CFU), indicating the number of live cells in each serving. Most probiotic supplements have between 1 and 10 billion CFU per dose, but levels up to 100 billion are possible.
Studies have shown that probiotics provide a number of health benefits to humans. They are particularly well researched in their ability to treat conditions like irritable bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diarrhoea.
There is also evidence supporting their effectiveness for helping with skin conditions (such as eczema), vaginal health, allergy symptom duration and oral health. One study also found an improvement in mental health symptoms in only six weeks amongst those who had taken a multispecies probiotic capsule or consumed probiotic yoghurts.
They can be useful if you suspect you have an imbalance of gut bacteria, perhaps as a result of diet or a course of antibiotics, when you may lose some of the good bacteria.
Given their ability to bestow health benefits, the marketing power of probiotics for modern food and drink manufacturers is clear to see. Products created with probiotics can for demographics or health statuses — for example, targeted at immunity, lactose intolerance, dental care, women’s health and children’s health.
The global market size for probiotics products is forecast to grow by 7.7% every year, until at least 2020.
Prebiotics stimulate the growth and activity of probiotics. They are groups of nutrients that are degraded by your gut, creating acids that promote the growth of the good bacteria. Prebiotics occur naturally in many plant-based foods like bananas, oats, barley, leeks and asparagus.
Postbiotics are produced when probiotics metabolise prebiotics. Postbiotics are similar to probiotics in that they convey a health benefit to the host, but they do not contain living microorganisms. They can be found in fermented foods, but are easier to get by taking a dietary supplement.
To simplify, prebiotics ‘feed’ probiotics, with postbiotics produced as a result.
The two most common and widely-researched groups of probiotic bacteria are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. With each group, there are many strains offering different benefits, such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast with similarly well-understood benefits, especially in prevention and treatment of prevent and treat several gastrointestinal diseases, as well as antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.
Supplements are the most popular method for the delivery of probiotics — this can include capsules, liquids and tablets.
Probiotics can also be delivered in food-based systems. These can be grouped into dairy (cheeses, yoghurts, milk, ice cream) and non-dairy (dark chocolate, meats and meat-based products, fruit juices and fibre-based snacks). Fermented products like sourdough bread, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, pickles and kimchi naturally contain probiotics, or have them added.
Probiotics can be adopted as individual single strains, or as blends of multiple strains. The health benefits of probiotics are associated with specific strains and blends — a challenge for manufacturers is choosing the appropriate mix.
Another challenge is technical. To be classified as a probiotic product, the food must contain live bacteria at a certain level that provides health benefits. Processing (microencapsulation, freezing, drying), materials and food systems used can affect the viability of the live bacteria and its stability during passage through the intestines.
The media chosen should provide stability and longevity, which also introduces an economical problem: ensuring products are cost effective in a competitive marketplace.
Looking for a probiotics partner for your food and drink product ranges? We supply individual probiotics strains as well as blends, including reduced and large spectrum blends from two to 30 strains.
Our Food & Beverage technical experts can advise on — and supply — a bespoke, functional solution for your product requirements and applications. This includes guidance on prebiotics, postbiotics, vitamins and minerals for your formulations.
Contact our award-winning probiotics technical experts.