If Oligo is food for the Good Bacteria, can they also be food for the Bad Bacteria?
Oligo is categorised as a prebiotic. That means they are digested only by probiotics (good bacteria). The complex structure of prebiotics renders them indigestible by digestive juices and bad bacteria. Studies have shown that diets lacking prebiotics reduces good bacteria count and increases bad bacteria count. Breast-fed babies have ample good bacteria because mothers milk contains more than 130 different types of prebiotics. Furthermore the feeding on prebiotics by probiotics produces carboxyl acids which render the environment not suitable for bad bacteria to survive. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are products of prebiotic fermentation by probiotics. The probiotic bacteria and their SCFAs restrict the growth and activity of less beneficial species, including putrefactive and disease-causing bacteria and yeast. The SCFAs produced by probiotic strains makes the gut environment less friendly to harmful strains. In addition, there is limited food and space in the colon, so the provisi
