Re: What the heck Are "Probiotics"?

[avpinc@bellsouth.net]

Like I said, "ask the experts!" .  Thanks, Susan.  This is another
hard copy for my growing file.  Linda (AVP)

Susan Evans Garlinghouse wrote:

> avpinc@bellsouth.net wrote:
> >
> > Hello to all the Ridecampers who have been asking me for
> > info. about probiotics:  I am not a qualified nutritionist or
> > expert in the scientific world, and I would still refer you
> > all to the experts, like Susan Garlinghouse, for  information
> > based on professional experience, however, I found what
> > is a pretty good description of what Probiotics are and
> > thought I would paraphrase the article:
> >
> > "Probiotics are living beneficial micro-organisms which ensure
> > the most beneficial populations in the microflora throughout
> > the digestive tract.  Unlike antibiotics which can destroy
> > large numbers of naturally beneficial bacteria while controlling
> > potentially harmful strains, active probiotics maintain and
> > enhance the populations and aid colonization of the gut
> > with the correct microflora."
> >
> > I hope this helps, and I look forward to hearing from you
> > all after you try our sample Anidophilus.  Take care.
> >                                        Linda (AVP)
>
> Well, in the interest of getting some more productive exchanges going
> on, I'll add a bit more to Linda's definition of probiotics and how they
> relate to horses.
>
> Horses obviously eat alot of foods that contain what are called
> structural or insoluble carbohydrates---the fiberous part of plants, as
> opposed to the soluble carbos like sugar.  Both soluble and insoluble
> carbohydrates are made up of long strings of glucose molecules, but the
> bonding in soluble vs. insoluble carbos is different.  Animals possess
> the enzymes to break the bonds between *soluble* sugars, but do NOT
> possess the enzymes to break the different bonding between the glucose
> molecules in structural carbos.
>
> So as animals have evolved, they developed a symbiotic relationship with
> hundreds of different species of microorganisms that DO produce the
> enzymes capable of breaking this particular bond, thereby making the
> food available to both the "bug" and the host animal.  Even better, the
> bugs excrete different vitamins such as B vitamins, which is why you
> normally don't have to supplement a healthy horse with extra B.  This
> concept occurs to one extent or another in any animal that eats foods of
> plant origin, including humans.  The species of herbivores that depend
> largely or entirely on fibrous plant materials enlarged the parts of the
> gastrointestinal tract where all this fermentation and microbial
> breakdown occurs---the rumen in cattle, sheeps, goats, etc and the cecum
> and large colon in the horse, rabbit, hippo, elephant and many other
> species.  Omnivores like bears, raccoons, people, etc still have some of
> the equipment for fiber digestion but don't rely on it as heavily.
> (BTW, in humans, the appendix is the vestiges of a cecum, but microbial
> fiber breakdown still occurs to a small extent in the large colon).
> Strict carnivores don't have a need for it and at best only have
> vestiges, which is why when your dog eats grass and then does the
> Technicolor Yawn on the rug, the grass reappears at one end or the other
> undigested).
>
> So, here's the deal---to maintain efficiency of fiber digestion in the
> cecum and large colon, the horse has to maintain a reasonably stable
> microbial population.  For most horses that don't undergo alot of
> stress, this isn't a problem.  It's more of a problem for horses under
> stress---like endurance horses, race horses, horses making a drastic
> change from one ration to another, nervous horses, etc.  This is because
> changes in the internal temperature, antibiotics, dehydration, deworming
> medications, changes in pH, etc etc all can temporarily make the cecal
> environment less than ideal for the bugs and they start to die off.
> Sometimes the die-off is equal among species, sometimes it can affect
> some species much more than others.
>
> Here's an example of how a chain reaction can cause major
> problems---let's say you have a horse that normally never gets more than
> a pound or so of grain, and his microbial population has adapted and
> stabilized itself to a mostly-hay diet.  The horse gets loose one night
> and evil creature, tears open a bag of grain and gobbles up a great big
> feast of it.  The grain hits the small intestine, some of the soluble
> carbohydrates are absorbed directly, but alot of the grain keeps going
> and lands in the cecum.  Some species of bug, primarily the
> Lactobacillus species, like this kind of food better than anything else
> and they go nuts.  As they digest the grain, they excrete lactic acid
> into the cecal and large colon.  Being bacteria, they multiply like mad
> (and very quickly) to take advantage of this largesse.  The population
> of this type of bug explodes, which in turn release more and more lactic
> acid, so the pH of the environment begins to drop (become more acidic).
> The pH drops below what some of the OTHER species of bug can tolerate
> and so they begin to die.
>
> So now you have several effects going on---one, you have an unbalanced
> microbial population, so overall efficiency is upset.  Two, as some
> species of bug die, they release a substance called an endotoxin
> ("poison from inside").  The intestinal mucosa attempts to absorb and
> metabolize this toxin, but is damaged itself by the toxin.  The toxin
> that is absorbed into the bloodstream can then cause all sorts of very
> nasty problems, including laminitis.  All from just upsetting the
> microbial population.  All sorts of stress can also create microbial
> upset to one extent or another, though usually not to this extreme.
>
> This is where the whole concept of probiotics comes in (didn't think I
> was ever gonna get to this part, did you?).  Probiotics are either a
> live or freeze-dried culture (which later reactivate) of some of the
> species that normally exist in the GI tract and are likely to be
> disturbed by stress.  The concept is that even everyday stresses can
> affect the microbial population, and that to maintain maximum digestive
> efficiency, you should try to keep the bug population on as an even keel
> as possible.  So by regularly adding small additional populations to the
> existing population, you hopefully fill in the gaps left by small daily
> upsets, and avoid major shifts in the population that can decrease
> efficiency and cause associated problems.
>
> Here are some of the things that have been reported in the empirical
> research (which you should be aware, were done by only one research
> company on their own proprietary strain and may not necessarily apply to
> ALL brands and types of probios)---when fed to young, growing horses,
> the incidence of osteopathic disease was significantly reduced, they
> think because the bugs release enzymes that increase phosphorus
> utilization, which in turn affects growing bone quality.  Two, they
> found that in broodmares fed probios culture, the *amount* of milk
> produced did not increase, but the butter fat content did (this is also
> why probios are commonly fed to dairy cows), and so foals nursing these
> supplemented mares grew faster and were bigger and heavier at 12 and 18
> months.  This may not be especially important to an endurance horse
> breeder, but is a big deal to say, racehorse breeders that want to sell
> nice, big, growthy youngsters at the sales.  Three, when probios were
> fed to a large group of horses all undergoing a steady workload (they
> were lesson horses at a riding school), supplemented horses maintained
> or gained weight better without additional food than did horses not
> getting the probios.  Which is of obvious benefit to endurance horses,
> especially since the research demonstrates that thin horses have a
> higher incidence of metabolic failure.
>
> OK,this is why I *personally* happen to prefer some probios over another
> (and this is my OPINION only and Anyone Else Can Do Whatever They
> Like).  Alot of the probios brands out there contain only Lactobacillus
> species of bugs in them.  Having Lactobacillus species is very good,
> because to get a horse to gain weight, you have to maintain the bugs
> that digest grains.  But, in my opinion, endurance horses especially
> undergo a wide variety of different kinds of stress, and Lactobacillus
> species are not the only ones affected in the GI tract.  Also, if a
> horse has an upset because of grain overload (as described above) then
> adding in yet more Lactobacillus is the LAST thing you want to do, since
> it's the *other* species that are going to be adversely affected.  So, I
> *personally* prefer feeding a probios that provides more than just
> Lactobacillus species if at all possible---no brand is going to provide
> everyone of the species found in the gut (or even close), but I still
> like having a little variety if at all possible.  But that's just me.
>
> Probiotics are an incredibly complex and fascinating field, as new
> research is indicating that probios also positively affect the immune
> system and may in the future be increasingly utilized to manipulate the
> microbial population to "crowd out" the bad bugs with good bugs (this is
> already being done in poultry flocks to eliminate Salmonella bacteria),
> to fine-tune digestive efficiency (important to food animal producers)
> and even control diseases and the spread of pathogens during
> food-processing for human consumption.  Human baby formulas containing
> probiotics to boost the immune system are currently being successfully
> tested in Europe by Nestle Carnation Company and there is a virtual
> explosion of research grant money being available for further work,
> which is GREAT.
>
> So, I hope this help explain a bit more about what probiotics are and
> what they do.
>
> Susan G