Are probiotics lactic acid bacteria?

Probiotics and lactic acid bacteria are both common bacteria in our lives. Probiotics and lactic acid bacteria are both beneficial bacteria in the human body. Eating probiotics and lactic acid bacteria has excellent effects on human health. However, many people do not know much about probiotics and lactic acid bacteria, so they don’t know how to distinguish and use them. What are the differences between probiotics and lactic acid bacteria? Next, the editor will take a look with everyone.

The difference between probiotics and lactic acid bacteria

Both prebiotics and probiotics affect the balance of intestinal flora, but the ways of doing so are completely different. The key difference is that prebiotics act on the flora that already exist in the intestine, while probiotics are bacteria added externally. In addition to this difference, the following points should be noted:

1. Prebiotics, as oligosaccharides that simulate breast milk, enter the gastrointestinal tract in an undigested form. By lowering the pH value, they promote the growth of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria, thereby indirectly promoting gastrointestinal health and the absorption of nutrients.

2. Probiotics are exogenous bacteria and have more direct effects. However, it is more targeted, that is, different strains of bacteria are added according to different causes and constitutions. For example, bifidobacteria have significant effects on gastrointestinal diseases.

3. In the highly acidic environment of the stomach, the survival of foreign bacteria will be tested, because only the beneficial bacteria that enter the gastrointestinal tract alive can exert their effects. Some probiotic strains cannot withstand the corrosion of gastric acid (strong acid environment) and intestinal fluid (alkaline environment), and prebiotics are not living organisms, so there is no problem with survival rate.

4. The immune system has a process of recognizing probiotics from the outside. When probiotics are added directly from the outside, people with different body constitutions may have different reactions.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that can reach the human intestine and produce health benefits. Children, people who are calcium deficient, lactose intolerant, and the weak are suitable for drinking yogurt. Yogurt is easier to absorb and digest than fresh milk. The milk fermented by lactic acid bacteria contains more metabolites of lactic acid fermentation, vitamins, active substances, etc. There is a difference between probiotics and lactic acid bacteria. Everyone must pay attention to the distinction.