Discovery of Probiotics!

Old-World Probiotics

Probiotics are the supplemental form of healthy bacteria that inhabit your gastrointestinal tract. These healthy flora (friendly bacteria) are essential for the health and proper functioning of the organs of the body in general, and the digestive tract in particular.

Before the advent of modern science and medicine, a prime source of healthy bacteria for the well-being of the intestinal tract was fermented borscht and sauerkraut.

Your grandmothers used to make homemade sour borscht from beets. The beets were soaked in barrels of water and stored in a warm environment. Towels and blankets were wrapped around the barrels to keep them warm until the beets fermented. In approximately four to six weeks, they produced a thick lather of fermentation.

The fermentation was the healthy bacteria of flora, which is now known as probiotics. The scientific names of the healthy flora are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. These live bacteria organisms are now included in yogurt and aid in digesting foods and strengthening the immune system.

The actual recipe for real homemade sour borscht is Grandma's best kept secret.

A laboratory test was performed where live E. coli bacteria was placed on top of the healthy bacterial fermentation of homemade sour borscht (live probiotics), and within a short period the E. coli bacteria was totally consumed or destroyed by the fermentation (or probiotics). E. coli, salmonella, shigella, and many other pathogens are among the unhealthy bacteria that are destroyed by probiotics.

Bottled borscht sold in supermarkets today is a distant imitation of the real thing and has a very scant positive effect on your health.

The healthy attributes of sour fermented borscht are already mentioned in the Talmud as of 1,800 years ago. The Talmud discusses various foods that are beneficial for different organs in the human body.

Caraway seeds, for example, are mentioned as being extremely beneficial for vascular health. However, they have a damaging effect on one's eyesight.

Conversely, there are foods that are good for the eyes but are detrimental to the heart and vascular system.

Sour borscht, which is fermented naturally from beets, is presented by the Talmud as beneficial for the eyes and the vascular system simultaneously. The Talmud further mentions that borscht also kills bad bacteria in the digestive system. Borscht is perhaps one of the precursors of modern-day probiotics. It was already identified close to two thousand years ago as the media of healthy flora for many vital organs of the human body.

A wise old man who lived in South Brooklyn used to research nutritional benefits for longevity of life. He would extol the benefits of caraway soup for vascular health and well-being. He perfected his own homemade recipe for caraway soup. He would constantly urge his friends to eat caraway soup for a healthy heart and long life. He lived to a healthy and ripe age of ninety years. However, for the last twelve years of his life he wore eyeglasses with lenses as thick as magnifying glasses. Obviously, his heart may have functioned well, but the caraway soup took its toll on his eyes.

Perhaps, had he known that fermented borscht can deliver "the best of both worlds," a healthy heart and healthy eyes, he would have extolled the benefits of borscht instead.

Sauerkraut is another natural medium for healthy probiotics for the digestive system. Fermented sauerkraut has similar properties to sour borscht and is very healthy for the digestive tract. Fresh cabbage is populated with healthy bacteria that are released upon proper fermentation conditions. Kraut is "cabbage" in German, thus sauerkraut is sour or fermented cabbage.

Increased awareness and popularity of the functions of probiotics are reawakening interest in the age-old leafy vegetable cabbage in its spiced and fermented stage that is known as sauerkraut. As the awareness of probiotics continues to be expounded, sour borscht and sauerkraut would probably be elevated to celebrity status in the natural and health food industry.

Probiotics Assist the Royal Navy in 1758

Spain, Portugal, Holland, and Great Britain were competing for world dominance of the spice trade centered on the Far East, particularly in East Indies (Indonesia). Trading in spices was very lucrative in the 1700s and brought great wealth to the countries.

While Spain, Portugal, and Holland were angling to outdo each other in naval supremacy, Great Britain was quietly building its navy into a supreme, world-class navy.

In that era, sailors at sea endured extreme hardships that made it physically difficult to remain seaborne for a lengthy period of time. Malnutrition, seaborne sicknesses, and many other ailments claimed the lives of more than 50 percent of the sailors on most voyages. They lacked refrigeration, and their fresh food supply depleted and spoiled in very short time. Scurvy and other debilitating diseases plagued many seafarers.

Magellan lost 80 percent of his crew while crossing the Pacific Ocean. Commodore George Anson was commissioned to lead a squadron of British ships in the Pacific in the 1740s to raid Spanish shipping. He lost thirteen hundred of his original two thousand crew members.

Captain James Cook was commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1758 to explore a new route for the spice trade and take possession of new territories for the Crown. In order to succeed, a system had to be established whereas sailors could endure long, hardy voyages. He successfully implemented many hygienic procedures at sea.

He was aware of the importance of specific foods needed to ward off sickness and strengthen the body's immune system. Special fruits and foods that supplied effective vitamins and probiotics were stored onboard to assure the health and strength of the sailors. He identified sauerkraut as an important source for strengthening the health of his sailors. It became a staple food for his sailors. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage, which contains an abundance of super-healthy flora (probiotics) that support the immune system and cleanse the digestive tract of the body. It also helps to ward off intestinal digestive diseases. It eases constipation and soothes sufferers of diarrhea.

He also discovered that the scurvy disease was due to insufficient intake of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). His ships always carried an ample supply of lemon juice and other citrus fruits.

Thanks to Captain Cook's in-depth knowledge of proper diet and hygiene, 90 percent of his sailors survived the lengthy voyages of his expeditions. The scourge of scurvy was completely eliminated from the Royal Navy by the end of the eighteenth century.

Hence, probiotics played a major role in the many successful expeditions of Captain Cook and the Royal British Navy. (The term probiotics was coined two centuries later.)

The Modern-Day Discovery of Probiotics

At the turn of the twentieth century, Dr. Elie Metchnikoff, a Nobel Laureate biologist, discovered the benefits of Lactobacillus acidophilus and bulgaricus. While studying the "laws governing the duration of human life" at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Dr. Metchnikoff concluded that a person could achieve a life span of ninety to one hundred years.

The New York Times of January 18, 1908, ran a headline page article entitled "The Prolongation of Life," regarding the achievements and discoveries of Dr. Metchnikoff relating to his studies and recommendations of a healthy lifestyle for people.

He studied people in Bulgaria (hence the name bulgaricus) and surrounding states who lived healthy lives up to 114 years of age. Most of the elderly who reached that age were physically and mentally active. He attributed their longevity and general good state of health to their consuming of healthy sour milk and buttermilk. The healthy ingredients therein are now called Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus and are classified as probiotics.

The New York Times elaborates about the remarkable longevity of life that Dr. Metchnikoff attributes to the "vegetable kingdom." Probiotics are manufactured from various dairy media, including sour milk, and several vegetation media, including soybeans, cabbage, beets, etc. Today, there are lactose-free probiotics and soy-free probiotics for persons intolerant to those media. Dr. Metchnikoff's studies were more far-reaching and elaborate than acidophilus and probiotics. Nevertheless, he is known as the father of modern probiotics.

The actual term probiotics was coined by the researchers Lilly and Stilwell in their studies in 1965. In 1989, a study entitled, "Probiotics in Man and Animals," from a researcher by the name of Fuller, popularized the term probiotics.

Probiotics are becoming ever more important to health-care practitioners and medical doctors as their properties and functions of relieving the digestive system are witnessed daily. But it is not only the digestive system that benefits from probiotics. The entire immune system is enhanced with probiotic intake. Thanks to probiotics, the epidermis of the human body enjoys improvement from many fungal conditions, including but not limited to athlete's foot fungus, dandruff, candida, and some forms of eczema.

The Gift of Probiotics to Our Generation

The Generation Gap

Generations ago, people consumed wholesome foods, with plenty of legumes and protein. Necessary vitamins, minerals, and digestive enzymes present in the food were directly digested and absorbed into the GI tract and distributed to the vital organs systematically. There wasn't much need for probiotic supplements to aid digestion and absorption of vital nutrients into the human body.

Additionally, probiotic-producing foods were regularly consumed as part of their natural menu. Unpasteurized sour milk, buttermilk, and yogurt were part of their daily diet. Sauerkraut, cabbage, beets, borscht, and other probiotic-producing legumes were part of everyday meals. People consumed natural probiotics constantly.

Now one might ponder this question: How serious and truthful could this probiotic idea be regarding longevity of life ("prolongation of life")? If the former generations lived a healthier lifestyle and were stronger due to their consumption of healthier foods and flora, why was their average lifespan much shorter than ours today?

The answer is logical and very clear.

People of previous generations led a stronger and healthier life on a day-to-day basis. Their bodies were stronger, and their lifestyle was wholesome. Although their average life span was considerably shorter than today, the quality of life was more energetic and healthier.

However, the prime reason most people did not live to a ripe old age was due to the poor hygienic environment and the rampant plagues resulting from their unhealthy living conditions.

Many worldwide ailments and illnesses, such as the bubonic plague, the black death, cholera, and dysentery, among others, spread rapidly and wiped out entire cities and states because they lacked proper hygiene.

In the late 1800s, Dr. Joseph Lister discovered why the majority of postsurgery patients died after their successful surgery. He discovered that the patients died from infections transmitted from one patient to the next. The surgeons were not aware of proper antiseptic procedures and did not cleanse themselves properly between one procedure and the next. The surgeons themselves were the carriers of the bacteria from patient to patient.

Dr. Joseph Lister implemented a simple basic rule that physicians adhere to until this day, requiring all doctors to wash their hands and cleanse properly between one patient and the next. This basic hygienic philosophy led the medical establishment to implement proper hygiene in all hospitals and medical procedures. Millions of lives have been saved as a result.

Prior to Dr. Lister's discovery, the medical community lacked basic knowledge regarding treatment of external and internal infections. That took a major toll of lives during war and peacetime. Soldiers wounded on the battlefield died mostly from their infected wounds rather than the gravity of the wound itself.

Years later with the advent of the wonder drug penicillin, most troops on the war front survived their initial wound infections. The penicillin drug conquered many difficult inner and outer infections. It indeed contributed to a longer and healthier life in developed countries.

Dr. Elie Metchnikoff came upon his discovery of the "prolongation of life" through probiotics. He studied Bulgarian peasants living long and healthy lives in farming communities. They lived to the ripe age of around one hundred years.

The Bulgarians he studied did not live in central Europe and were far away from major commerce centers where diseases were easily spread from city to city by traveling merchants and tourists. They lived in small towns and villages, farther removed form Europe's main commerce corridor, in basically healthy environments. They consumed healthy foods, and their eating habits consisted of healthy legumes and foods laden with protein and probiotics. Compared to the rest of Europe, the Bulgarian peasants were the exception and did enjoy longevity.

If the European community-at-large had similar pristine living conditions, they probably would have lived much longer as well.

Fast-Forward to Our Generation

Our generation is fortunate to live longer because of our development of sterile hygienic conditions on a personal, daily basis. We are also fortunate to have championed major cures and remedies to halt the spread of rampant diseases and infection.

But our generation lacks the physical and mental energy and stamina of previous generations, due to our poor dietary menus and eating habits. In today's super-unhealthy environment, fast food outlets churn out daily menus laden with hydrogenated fats, heavy starches, and carbohydrates. These types of food strain, abuse and weigh heavily on your digestive system. They tend to destroy the healthy flora (bacteria) adhering to the mucosal lining of the digestive tract that battle destructive pathogens and many other harmful contaminants. Worse, processed soft drinks and sugar-filled pastries cling to your inner intestines and obstruct the absorption of the healthy enzymes, vitamins, and minerals into the body's organs. A wide array of bacteria, pathogens, and carcinogens are then allowed to invade the gastrointestinal tract, because of unhealthy meal choices and poor eating habits.

Thanks to modern probiotics, a great gift to our generation, there is now a strong and lasting remedy!

Probiotics is the long-awaited solution that is becoming familiar and ever more popular in the area of digestive health and wellness.

Acidophilus, among other probiotics, assists in the growth of new flora in the gut and helps maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the gastrointestinal tract.

More than one hundred trillion units of healthy microbiota inhabit your gastrointestinal tract. The healthy bacteria continuously battle the harmful bacteria. Your digestive tract requires healthy flora to counterbalance the fungal properties propagated by the unfriendly flora.

Growing and multiplying good bacteria in the gut is why people take probiotics. The science has evolved into a major industry and network of labs manufacturing many probiotic strains and blends that aid in the healthy digestion and absorption of necessary nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and beyond. The medical profession today already recognizes the significance of probiotics as assistance in digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals in the GI tract and its abilities to enhance the immune system.

Defining Probiotics!

What Are Probiotics?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines probiotics as "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host."

Defining the Term Probiotic

Let us first define the term probiotic. Biotic means life. It usually refers to the life of bacteria, the viral or fungal bacteria that creates sicknesses and maladies. To battle and neutralize those fungal bacteria, the medical and pharmaceutical establishments have researched and developed many different types of antibiotics. Nobody wants these bacteria to remain alive. The antibiotics destroy their life.

The term probiotic relates to the healthy, friendly bacteria in your digestive tract that you want to multiply in your gastrointestinal tract for the well-being of your health. Everyone wants these friendly bacteria to remain alive and healthy and to multiply, hence the term probiotic.

Probiotics are not enzymes, vitamins, or minerals, nor are they chemical compounds.