Mike, I have never seen proof that probiotics survive far enough into
the GI tract to establish/colonize, though I have seen some info that
seemed convincing that they do not. Have you seen a reliable study or
test result that shows that they do get through to colonize?
The bacteria species that sporulate that I've seen in probiotic
products are not ones I want colonizing my gut, but that's just my
personal take on it.
sol
At 04:04 PM 2/17/2010, you wrote:
Deb asks:
> I always wondered how the probiotics make it thru the stomach
> acid....does anyone know?
Ooh! Ooh! I know! <waves hand>
<grin>
They're probably in the form of spores, which have to be tough enough
to survive drying out, temperature swings, and, presumably,
inhospitable pH environments.
Probably the reason many of those intestinal organisms became human
symbiotes is because they made spores that could survive in the
environment and be consumed with food. Our ancient ancestors didn't
always wash their food, after all!
I just looked, and the Wikipedia article on spores seem like it'd fill
in the blanks. (I skimmed.)
