Bacteria in the intestine

The intestine contains some 100,000 billion bacteria to form a single individual "microbiota" . We each have his own and he evolves according to what we eat. But it is according to scientists *, one of the keys to our good health : studies on mice have for example very clearly shown that obesity is linked to a poor intestinal flora, little diversified. If, by food, we manage to rebalance this flora, the mice stop gaining weight .... And it's not just a question of silhouette since cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, diabetes. .. are corollaries of overweight. Moreover, we know that the good balance of the intestinal flora also plays on our ability to regulate stress.

And yogurt for the intestine?

Like any fermented milk, yoghurt contains strains of lactic ferments, lacto-bacilli, as one has right in the intestine. The calculation is simple: if you eat yoghurt, it strengthens its bacterial troops at the intestinal level. In fact, yoghurt brings probiotics , in other words bacteria that support those that are in place but they do not settle permanently. In contrast, prebiotics are fibers that feed native bacteria and allow their proliferation and diversification. It is therefore to these prebiotics that we must turn to pamper its operational center (our gut). They are found in artichokes , apples , asparagus , lentils, peas, oats, seeds and nuts.

* To read: Bacteria, friends who want you the good of Pr. Gabriel Perlemuter and Dr Anne-Marie Cassard, ed. Solar 320p, 19,50 € and Our friends the bacteria of Alanna Collen, ed. JC Lattès, 350 p, 20,90 €.