Good digestion thanks to yogurt and sausage?
Some days are walrus days. You feel fat, your pants are pinched, your stomach is pressing. Not really bad, but annoying. And a found food for the food industry. Probiotic yogurts, fiber-rich cereals and other additives in the food should make a nice flat stomach. How does it work?
Probiotic dairy products
White helpers
Stress or improper diet can reduce the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut that are involved in digestion - possible consequence: constipation. This is exactly where probiotic yoghurts start: The special bacterial culture in them is called Bifidobacterium animalis. These bacteria form lactic acids and thus create pleasant living conditions for other useful microorganisms (which is why bifidus is one of the so-called "probiotics"). At the same time, lactic acid makes the gut too acidic for "bad" germs, so they can spread worse. The promise of advertising: If you spoon the probiotic cup daily, the digestion should improve noticeably after two weeks. So far the theory. But does it really work?
"The idea of using bifidus bacteria is only right," says Ulrich Rosien, a gastroenterologist at the Israelite Hospital in Hamburg. Bifidus is quite robust to the corrosive stomach acid. Therefore, the bacteria survive the digestive processes in the stomach, are transported alive in the intestine and can work there. A French study showed that the participants could use the bacterial aid more often to the toilet. Nevertheless, bowel specialist Rosien remains skeptical of the advertising promise. "What helps the mother does not have to help the aunt," says Rosien. In other words: There is no probiotic that automatically alleviates the symptoms of any person. "In such a yogurt, there is only the same Bifidus strain, and it is untrustworthy for anyone to promise that these same bacteria will regulate your digestion." Especially since it is unclear how many bacteria are actually in the cup.
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment recommends one million microorganisms per gram, ie 150 million in one serving. Whether they are actually in the yogurt is not on it. In order for the souped-up milk product to work, it is crucial that you eat the yoghurt regularly (preferably daily) and over a longer period of time. Otherwise, the bacteria can not settle in the intestinal flora.
Fiber in cereals and biscuits
Crisp fitness trainer
In addition to the probiotic Superbakterien food manufacturers also like to advertise with high-fiber products. These should also make the intestines pace - and do not cut off so badly. "In fact, fiber can help with constipation", confirmed Wiebke Franz from the Association for Independent Health Services (UGB). Because fiber is indigestible, they increase the volume of the intestinal contents. In addition, they store a lot of water, swell up and so stimulate the intestine to empty itself. Fiber acts like a fitness trainer for digestion.
"Only drinking should not be forgotten, because otherwise the fiber can inhibit bowel movements, "warns Ulrich Rosien.What exactly is meant when manufacturers promise fiber? In higher-priced cereal stuck fiber in the form of wholegrain oats or flaxseed, explains Wiebke Franz." Cookies or cereal is like oat or Wheat bran added, if only because it is quite cheap. "Disadvantage of bran: If you have a lot of gas-forming bacteria in the intestine, it causes bloating.The nutritionist always recommends to look at the list of ingredients even in apparently healthy" fiber-rich "products: How much sugar hides in the flakes or the "healthy" oatcakes, was baked with pulp or wholemeal flour?
Karin Riemann-Lorenz from the consumer center Hamburg warns: The reference "fiber" on the package make a product not yet recommended. She finds it questionable when "foods with poor nutritional properties want to gain a healthy image by adding supposedly beneficial substances." It would be best to put as many natural fiber suppliers as whole grain, fruits and vegetables on the menu.
Prebiotic additives in sausage or water
Gentle start
Juices and even chocolate now promise digestive benefits. Such products are usually added so-called "prebiotics". These substances include, for example, the multiple sugars inulin and oligofructose. The human gut can not do anything to you, and it lacks the proper enzymes.But beneficial intestinal bacteria like to eat inulin, they multiply magnificently by the prebiotics - with the same effect that probiotic yoghurts have. And another advantage of the multiple sugar in conjunction with the germs. "After being broken down by the microorganisms, it forms more particles than before," explains Rosien.
More particles but bind more water, the result: the stool is softer and can better pass through the intestine. While probiotic bacterial cultures must be used only in chilled dairy products or laboriously encapsulated, inulin or oligofructose can be processed into bread, chocolate, cereal, juice and even mineral water (eg "Prebiotic Plus" from Bad Brückenauer or "Near Water Hirschquelle actiness ").
Whether such products really improve digestion, depends on the amount of prebiotics added. It may sound good if juices, which already have a digestive effect, are also added to the bacterial feed (eg "Rabenhorst Plus - Plum + Inulin"). But ultimately, just 1.5 percent of the sugar in Rabenhorst juice. Nutritionist Karin Riemann-Lorenz recommends but 15 grams a day - and looks in the admixtures hardly more than a publicity stunt. After all, there is now a brand name that is supposed to guarantee that a product contains an effective amount of inulin or oligofructose: Where the Beneo logo sticks to it, a blue-and-white male in a blue semicircle, five grams of multiple sugars are to be added per serving be (in yogurt in a cup, with bread in 100 grams). However: Beneo is not independent, but an initiative of food companies and the world's largest manufacturer of prebiotic supplements.
So you should stay critical. Especially with actually less healthy products such as sausage and ham, which now come along as prebiotic wellness products (such as "Zimbo Vital-Ham" or "Well Life" by Könecke). It is true that not only inulin, but also less fat is in the bread covering - but this does not make it as healthy for the intestine as fruits and vegetables.
Nevertheless, the Hamburg intestinal expert Rosien sees no problem in principle in the fact that muesli or bread to prebiotic source. "In fact, a balanced mixed diet would be ideal. But if you do not like it or you can not get it and instead turn to a finished product, at least do the bare necessities for your gut. "
When yogurt & co. By no means help
Mostly the causes of constipation are harmless:
Unhealthy diet, too little drunk, too little exercise
At these signs but it gets critical, then you should go to the doctor:
To the not-to-Klo-ability come strong stomach pain
Constipation and diarrhea alternate
There is blood in the stool
The stools cause severe pain
The constipation lasts for weeks
