1. Look down at your arm. They're on you right now. In fact, they're everywhere. On your skin, in your mouth, on your teeth, just crawling, breathing, and farting all over the place.
2. Relax. I'm just talking about bacteria, and I know reflexively you're thinking, well, bacteria, that must be a bad thing. Not really. You have more good bacteria than bad bacteria in your body, and you've heard the term, probiotic.
3. It's become a mega industry, into the hundred billions, of people selling supplements, selling foods that are probiotic-rich. When you're taking probiotics, the majority of the probiotics end up at the end of your intestinal system, also known as the colon.
4. So when we're talking about the good bacteria within your gut, we're actually talking about the bacteria that's helping you get some of the nutrients from your food to improve your body's immune function, to support the integrity of the wall of your intestines. This is the job of the good bacteria.
低头看看你的胳膊。它们现在就在你身上呢。事实上,它们无处不在。在你的皮肤上,在你的嘴里,在你的牙齿上,到处爬行,呼吸,还放屁。
放轻松。我只是在说细菌啦,我知道你本能地在想,好吧,细菌,那一定是不好的东西。其实并不是。你体内的好细菌比坏细菌多,你肯定听说过益生菌这个词吧。
它已经成为一个庞大的产业,有上千亿的金额,人们在销售补品,卖富含益生菌的食品。当你服用益生菌的时候,大部分的益生菌最终都会累积在你的肠道系统末端,也就是结肠。
所以,当我们谈论肠道内有益的细菌时,我们实际上是指那些帮助你从食物中获取一些营养物质来提高身体免疫功能、同时还强化肠道内壁完整性的细菌。这是有益的细菌所做的工作。