Everything you need to know about your gut flora – also known as gut microbiota. Our bowel health and well-being are heavily dependent on the trillions of gut bacteria, as they perform essential tasks. An intact intestinal barrier and thus a good intestinal immune system are largely dependent on them.
There are different types of intestinal bacteria. Bad intestinal bacteria can cause bloating, digestive problems and even weight gain.
Good intestinal bacteria, on the other hand, promote digestion, boost your mood and produce vitamins – these beneficial bacteria are therefore essential for our intestinal health.
To keep the amount of good intestinal bacteria (good microbes) as high as possible, a healthy diet is necessary.
In this article, we explain exactly how important bacteria are. We also give you tips on how to keep your intestinal bacteria healthy.
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Which intestinal bacteria are healthy and important?
There are a variety of intestinal bacteria in the human colon. To be more precise, a healthy gut contains around 100 trillion bacteria.
The world of gut bacteria, also known as the microbiome, has several functions:
- Strengthening and supporting the function of the immune system
- Regulating mood and emotions
- Producing important neurotransmitters in the brain and vitamins in the gut
- Protecting against fungal infections and toxic substances – removal of toxins
- Digestion and absorption of nutrients from food into the body
- Increasing intestinal motility by breaking down indigestible dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids
The microbiome differs from person to person and even in the same person, the composition of the microbiome can change over the course of a lifetime.
How many and which intestinal bacteria are in our human intestines depends largely on nutrition, but also on other factors:
- Sleep
- Stress and lifestyle
- Hygiene
- Environmental conditions
There are different types of bacteria in the intestine. Roughly, these can be categorized into good and bad bacteria.
The good intestinal bacteria ensure a functioning digestion. They break down food into its nutritional components. They also ensure the maintenance of healthy intestinal flora and the absorption of nutrients from food that are used to supply the body.
The bad ones can, through a disrupted intestinal flora, cause diarrhea, intestinal and digestive problems, as well as intestinal diseases.
Examples of pathological bacterial colonization that can disrupt the intestinal flora include Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
For a healthy gut and intestinal wall, it is important that the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria is appropriate. Ideally, the good bacteria should outweigh the bad ones by 85%.
What are the effects of healthy intestinal bacteria?
Healthy intestinal bacteria are also known as probiotics.
The best known of these are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus, or lactobacteria (lactic acid bacteria) and bifidobacteria for short.
Their main tasks are the production of acetic and lactic acid. This lactic acid leads to an acidification of the intestinal environment, which makes it more difficult for pathogenic bacteria to settle. They also produce important digestive enzymes.
Good intestinal bacteria prevent the colonization of bad germs in the intestinal mucosa and restrict the activity of bad bacteria. They thus ward off pathogens and can produce the often deficient vitamin B12.
For example, bacteria of the genus Bacteroides from the phylum Bacteroidetes are particularly effective in the biosynthesis of the vitamin biotin. Biotin is especially important for healthy hair and nails.
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What are bad gut bacteria and how do they affect us?
Bad intestinal bacteria are also known as E. coli bacteria or putrefaction bacteria.
If they make up more than 15% of the intestinal bacteria, the food supplied cannot be sufficiently digested and absorbed by the body.
The mood also deteriorates, concentration and performance decrease. Listlessness and fatigue can occur.
In addition, when proteins from food are broken down, they produce many toxic substances that are responsible for unpleasant-smelling sweat, urine and stool.
If the immune system is reduced, harmful intestinal bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella or E. coli bacteria can cause severe infections in the gastrointestinal tract.
What vitamins do our intestinal bacteria produce?
Our intestinal bacteria can produce vitamin K and many of the B vitamins, including the often deficient vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 is needed primarily for the formation of red blood cells and nerve function.
It is mainly found in meat and animal products, which is why people on a vegetarian or vegan diet are particularly prone to developing a deficiency.
Even meat-eaters are not exempt, as their intestines often contain too many harmful bacteria that do not produce vitamin B12.
So the more good intestinal bacteria there are in the digestive tract, the more vitamins can be produced.
How does the intestinal flora influence body weight?
Studies in mice 1 show that the composition of the microbiome affects body weight. 2
Mice that had certain types of bacteria removed gained less weight with an unhealthy diet than mice that had a lot of bad gut bacteria.
Furthermore, when obese mice were given bacterial strains from healthy mice, their weight increased more slowly than before with the same food composition.
However, with an unchanged diet, the microbiome quickly changed back to the old composition and the mice gained weight faster again.
For us humans, this means that nutrition has a major influence on the composition of the microbiome and this in turn on our body weight.
The more bacteria-friendly the diet, the easier it is to lose weight.
For example, in overweight people, certain bacterial strains are predominant in the microbiome. These are known as Firmicutes bacteria and are found in much smaller numbers in people of a normal weight.
Another important bacterial strain is known as Bacteroidetes bacteria. Increasing the proportion of these intestinal inhabitants can, for example, be helpful for losing weight.
How does porridge keep your gut healthy?
How can you support your gut flora?
The best way is with a healthy and balanced diet.
In this context, “healthy” means as unprocessed and plant-based as possible:
- Lots of fiber (about 30 grams per day) and complex carbohydrates like those found in oats and oatmeal, but also in legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products.
- Prebiotics support the growth of healthy bacteria ( prebiotic foods include artichokes, asparagus, chicory, green bananas, garlic, onions and parsnips)
- Probiotics support the intestinal flora (fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso or kimchi, as well as sour milk products such as yoghurt, kefir and ayran)
Avoid highly processed foods and ready meals, too much salt, sugar, fat, meat, alcohol and antibiotics. These are harmful to your gut health. If you avoid unhealthy foods, you can avoid chronic inflammatory bowel disease or even positively influence existing irritable bowel syndrome.
Ideally, you should start feeding your gut bacteria with a healthy breakfast. Our muesli or porridge, yoghurt, kefir and fruit are the best options.
This provides you with a high amount of fibre for the first half of the day, which is important for a good composition of the intestinal flora and forms the basis for it.
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- 1.Ridaura VK, Faith JJ, Rey FE, et al. Gut Microbiota from Twins Discordant for Obesity Modulate Metabolism in Mice. Science . Published online September 5, 2013:1241214. doi: 10.1126/science.1241214
- 2.Backhed F, Ding H, Wang T, et al. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Published online October 25, 2004:15718-15723. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0407076101
Frequently asked questions
How do bad intestinal bacteria make themselves felt?
If bad intestinal bacteria get out of hand, the food you eat can no longer be sufficiently digested and absorbed by the body. Your mood can also suffer, your concentration and performance decrease. listlessness and fatigue occur. Unpleasantly smelling sweat, urine and stool can be a sign of an unbalanced intestinal flora. If the immune system is weakened, harmful intestinal bacteria such as salmonella, shigella or E. coli can cause severe infections in the gastrointestinal tract.
How can I get good intestinal bacteria?
It is possible to colonize good intestinal bacteria through nutrition. The following are recommended: lots of fiber (about 30 grams per day) and complex carbohydrates such as those found in oats, but also in legumes, fruits, vegetables and whole grain products. Prebiotics support the growth of healthy bacteria (prebiotic foods include artichokes, asparagus, chicory, green bananas, garlic, onions and parsnips). Probiotics support the intestinal flora (fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso or kimchi, as well as sour milk products such as yoghurt, kefir and ayran). If intake through food alone is not sufficient, you can also take special probiotic or prebiotic food supplements.
What are the best gut bacteria?
The best known are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus, or lactobacteria (lactic acid bacteria) and bifidobacteria for short. Their main tasks are the production of acetic and lactic acid. Lactic acid leads to an acidification of the intestinal environment, which makes it more difficult for pathogenic bacteria to settle. They also produce important digestive enzymes. Good intestinal bacteria prevent pathogenic germs from settling in the intestinal mucosa and restrict the activity of bad bacteria. They thus ward off pathogens. There are a multitude of different bacterial strains that fulfill important tasks in our gastrointestinal tract.
When should you take intestinal bacteria?
If it is not possible to restore the balance of the microbiome through diet alone, e.g. after an illness, you should also consider using food supplements and preparations that rebuild the intestinal flora to achieve your goal faster. Pharmacies and doctors can advise you on this.
What are the good bacteria called?
The best known are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus, or lactobacteria (lactic acid bacteria) and bifidobacteria for short. Their main task is to produce acetic and lactic acid. This acidifies the intestinal environment, making it more difficult for pathogenic bacteria to colonize the intestines. These good bacteria also produce important digestive enzymes. They thus ward off pathogens and are essential for our immune system.
How do you feed good intestinal bacteria?
So-called probiotics (natural yoghurt, sauerkraut, kefir) support the good intestinal bacteria. In addition, you should consume enough prebiotics. These are, so to speak, the “food” for healthy bacteria. Prebiotics include, for example, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, onions, garlic, black salsify, artichokes and bananas.
