Foods, especially many vegetables and fruits, may move across a nation’s borders. As such we may not really know how many of these foods are grown or whether the grower’s have the same high standards that we expect our own farmers to have. In the US we have remarkably few intestinal infections, but they do sporadically occur. How do we protect ourselves from these infections? Well, aside from buying fresh wholesome foods, we can significantly increase our intake of those foods with soluble fibers in them, especially ones that are rich in prebiotics fibers. These prebiotic fibers are the ones that promote the best growth of the very best bacteria within our gut, specifically in the colon. When these good bacteria proliferate, they produce substances that increase the health of the bowel wall, the very site where an infection with a bad bacteria may occur.
Prevention
How can we make the bacterial make up of the colon so robust that these pathogenic bugs cannot grow and make their attachments to the bowel wall? How might this work?
- Increase the percentage of good bacteria in the gut by a high vegetable diet and using a prebiotic supplement. Both of these will accomplish the goal of making it less likely that these bad bugs will hook up.
- When these good bacteria predominate, they may produce substances that act like antibiotics. These are called bacteriocins. And, they act to kill or prevent the growth of bad bacteria. They also make a substance called butyrate. This nutrient beneficially acidifies the colon and also provides nourishment to the bowel wall itself.
- Prebiotics such as Prebiotin provide this benefit. Probiotic bacteria may help but we are not sure of this benefit.
