I’m very ashamed to admit that although i’ve taken a plethora of college bio courses, i don’t understand how yogurt works. If im eating live bacteria, why don’t i get sick?
I’m very ashamed to admit that although i’ve taken a plethora of college bio courses, i don’t understand how yogurt works. If im eating live bacteria, why don’t i get sick?
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Not all bacteria are harmful to humans, and some are actually helpful. Your gut biome has bacteria that help you digest food.
Because not all bacteria is bad. In fact, we need certain kinds of bacteria in our guts so badly that getting a poop transplant is a real thing, used if all the good bacteria has been killed off.
We cultivate the bacteria we use to make yogurt to be good for us and make something that tastes good.
Not all bacteria cause sickness. Some bacteria are good for us, and in fact our bodies actually rely on some of these to be healthy. Yogurt contains the safe bacteria our bodies need.
Because it’s not the type of bacteria that causes disease.
Our intestines contain massive colonies of bacteria that break down foods so that we can get nutrients from them. Infant children are born with bacteria in their gut from their mom. Certain bacteria is good!
Yogurt is the good kind. The bacteria in there we consume actually live in our intestines and are good for us.
Because not all bacteria is bad for you. I used to make my own yogurt. You had to either use powdered milk or boil the milk to kill off the bacteria that would harm you before adding in the healthy bacteria. You also had to let the milk cool before adding the beneficial bacteria so that it wouldn’t die from the heat you used to kill the bacteria you didn’t want to proliferate.
Are you sure you took college bio?
It’s the specific kind of bacteria that makes the difference with yoghurt, which is lactic acid bacteria. These are bacteria that ferment carbohydrates into lactic acid. Since the majority of the world has carbohydrates make up the majority of their energy intake, having a small amount of live LAB in your digestive system lessens the amount of work your body has to do to break those carbohydrates down into glucose, giving you more energy out of the same amount of food, in less time.
What were you doing during those college bio courses?
>Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. The rest are microscopic colonists.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43674270
What college was this?
Most bacteria don’t make you sick.
In fact, not only that, but at any given time there are slightly more bacteria cells in/on your body than there are human cells.
doesn’t the stomach acid kill the bacteria?
Halophilic bacteria, the kind that thrives in salt-rich environments, tend to be healthy for humans because when they consume tiny amounts of nutrients you ingest they synthesize stuff your body needs like Vitamin K as a byproduct. It’s kind of why most supplements are considered worthless or janky at best, minus stuff like omega-3 or vitamin d in sub-deficient regions. By contrast, anaerobic bacteria like clostridium botulinum consume and leave behind nasty toxins that inhibit nerve functions (which at its worst can lead to respiratory failure).
You entire digestive system is FULL of bacteria, right now.
The kind of bacteria inside you, is the good kind of “gut” bacteria.
The kind that makes you sick is… the other kind.
Yogurt contains the good kind.
It’s good gut bacteria. Basically we all have a microbiome in our digestive tract. This microbiome actually assists in our digestion. The bacteria that’s in yogurt contributes to the existing gut flora (as it’s usually called), and our digestive system is given a nice boost.
It does! I hate the stuff
How did you make it through “a plethora of college bio courses” without learning that not all bacteria are harmful, and many are actually helpful?
Because not all bacteria is “bad”. Infact we need bacteria for our bodies to function properly
me, literally eating yogurt today after 10 days of penicillin treatment
we would be dead without bacteria in our body
I think what this person is asking isn’t if the bacteria in yogurt is good or bad, but rather why the body doesn’t react to the antigens on the good bacteria. It’s honestly a good question. There’s no simple answer, and it varies from bacteria to bacteria. Essentially the bacteria that composes our gut microbiome sits on a layer of intestinal epithelial cells (part of the innate immune system). The bacteria that composes the gut microbiome have co-evolved with humans overtime to develop signaling pathways that tell the immune system to decrease antigen-responses (mostly through regulatory t-cells that prevent inflammation) when certain metabolites are detected (indicating good bacteria). These cells have extracellular and intracellular receptors for this purpose. Some microbial products may even circulate in the blood and affect immune cell functions in distal areas. There are other mechanisms that are more downstream of the gut and have complex interactions with gut functioning.
Because many lactobacillus strains are our friends. They already live in our guts already in a symbiotic relationship that helps us digest food and fight off more harmful bacteria, meanwhile they get a steady supply of sugars to eat – sugars our own guts often struggle to fully break down. Our immune systems keep them from getting too uppity and causing problems, so they’re just our helpful tenants.
More specifically regarding dairy, yoghurt and other cultures dairy products are specifically cultured with bacteria strains we know don’t hurt us. They colonize and prevent bacterial growth that’s not them, so all that’s left is friendly neighborhood lactobacillus that don’t make us sick. Which is why we started culturing stuff in the first place – very spoilage resistant.
Most bacteria in the world aren’t harmful. Some are beneficial.
were those bio courses taught in a language you don’t speak?
Did you pass those classes?
The human body contains an estimated 38 trillion bacteria, roughly the same number as human cells. Said Google.
maybe take a step back from college bio and think 5th grade elementary bio (seriously no sneer intended). i tutored some kids years ago and the topic was relationship between species in ecosystems and mutualism was one of such. the bacteria in the yoghurt are in a mutualism relationship with humans as we both benefit from each other. your confusion comes from assuming bacteria and humans can only have a parasitism relationship. (disclaimer: english not my first language)
Last time I had it I got the craps so bad… So yeah, yoghurt makes me sick now. Makes me sad.
It’s the yogurt effect
gurt: yo
Did you pass those college bio classes?
Not everything alive is bad for you. Your body has tons of other living things inside of it.
If we didn’t have friendly critters living inside us, we wouldn’t be able to break down our food. Yogurt bacteria are friends. We need our friends lining our digestive tract, and when you lose your little friends, you can become critically ill very quickly.
Not all bacteria harms humans. Actually, your body has more bacteria cells than humans cells.
Isn’t like 2% of your weight made up by foreign bodies like bacteria?
If bacteria killed your, you would be dead long before you ate yogurt
You’re made of bacteria inside and out.
Bacteria are everywhere and lots of them are harmless or helpful. You have roughly the same number of human cells as non human cells (mostly bacteria but potentially also yeasts). Some help you digest your food or even make vitamins you need to thrive. The type of bacteria matters, and yogurt is usually made with specific types that we know are harmless and/or helpful
The book I Contain Multitudes poses an interesting thought experiment: how long could a human being survive with zero bacteria in their body?
The answer is a couple days at the very most
Well… just like when you bake bread, and the heat kills the yeast, most yogurt bacteria do not do so well in intense acid baths like your stomach.
Free protein*.
*(I don’t actually know if bacteria are made of protein)
Bacteria is everywhere. You might think it is not in your spotless home, but it is.
Bacteria also accounts for between one and three percent of your body weight.
nothing better then bread and yoghurt for hangover
“If lions can kill and eat me, why is it safe to have a pet cat?”
Because they’re different species. One is inherently dangerous, the other is fine and normal to have. Is it impossible for a pet cat to kill or injure you? Of course not. It’s just far less likely, and would only happen if a bunch of other things went wrong.
Some species of bacteria will always get you sick, but most only can if there’s too much of them and/or they’re in the wrong place (staph is normal and fine on your skin, but harmful to injured skin).