Symbiotic foods are fully included in the category of functional products, to which belong all those foods capable of carrying out one or more beneficial actions for the organism and of positively influencing the state of psycho-physical well-being of man.
Returning to our symbiotics, this adjective belongs to those foods, drugs or supplements, containing a mixture of prebiotics and probiotics. More specifically, these are products containing live and viable probiotic microorganisms capable of exerting a positive action on the intestinal microflora and consequently promoting the well-being of the consumer. At the same time, the symbiotics contain ingredients that are not digestible by humans, but fermentable by part of the probiotic bacteria present in the intestinal lumen, of which they stimulate the growth and activity, favoring the rebalancing of the intestinal microflora.
The association of probiotics and prebiotics probably represents the best integration strategy, because on the one hand it improves the survival of probiotic organisms (increases the shelf life of the product) and at the same time provides a specific substrate for the resident bacterial flora.
Foods in which probiotic microorganisms and prebiotic substrates are simultaneously present are commonly referred to as SYMBIOTICS.
Some examples:
- Bifidobacteria + fructoligosaccharides
- Lactobacilli + lactitol
- Bifidobacteria + Galacto-oligosaccharides
The list of potential beneficial effects of symbiotics on human health is quite long. They range from the improvement of lactose intolerance, to the increased absorption of some minerals (calcium, iron and magnesium), passing through an improvement in the selectivity of the intestinal mucosa which contributes to determining the additional benefits ascribed to symbiotics, such as the cholesterol-lowering effect. , immunostimulant and hypotiglyceridemicant, normalizing intestinal function (motility, absorption, selectivity and secretion), protective against inflammation and infections of the intestine, therapeutic against diarrhea by antibiotics and antitumor. These effects of symbiotics lay the foundations for a whole series of other beneficial activities related to them but still awaiting confirmation. It must be said, however, that the therapeutic effects depend very much on the type of probiotic bacteria contained in the symbiotic and on their concentration (much higher in symbiotics sold in pharmacies - as a real therapeutic device registered as a medicinal specialty - compared to those marketed as a supplement. or functional food - intended for healthy individuals, not registered, but simply notified to the ministry of health -).
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