During the critical period of intestinal growth, how to help children digest well?

The intestines, known as the "second brain", are not only the main place for food digestion and absorption, but also one of our most important immune systems. Especially for babies in the critical period of intestinal growth, the health of the intestines is directly related to their growth and development, so the focus should be on some aspects. Why do you say that?

That's because, when a child is born, his or her inherent physiological functions have basically been established. For example, their stomach can secrete pepsin and produce gastric juice, and their intestines have the function of absorbing nutrients. These functions are already present before or after birth.

However, there is one thing that is crucial to digestion, but it is only established from scratch after the baby is born, that is: intestinal flora. If the intestines are not happy, it will be more difficult for the child to grow and explore freely. In the critical period of intestinal growth, how can we help children digest well and grow healthily? Today, let's talk about this issue from the perspective of what is intestinal flora and how to establish intestinal flora.

01. What is intestinal flora?

Intestinal flora, also known as intestinal microorganisms, is a general term for microorganisms living in the intestines. However, don't underestimate intestinal microorganisms, their existence can be said to have far exceeded people's expectations.

To make a simple comparison, the number of cells in our human body is about 40-60 trillion, while the number of intestinal microorganisms is as high as millions to trillions; there are only dozens of types of cells in our human body, while the number of intestinal flora is as high as thousands.

From this perspective, is this a human or a base for intestinal flora?

In fact, after countless years of evolution and adaptation, intestinal flora has become an inseparable part of the human body, and they play an irreplaceable role in the human body.

However, these bacteria are not innate.

02. How is intestinal flora established?

The baby is basically in a sterile state in the mother's womb. Only after birth, it comes to this world full of microorganisms. There are microorganisms in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, in the food we eat, and in the clothes we wear. Then, these microorganisms begin to enter our bodies and begin to colonize.

However, it is not so easy to enter the intestines because the human body has immunity.

Here we take Bacillus coagulans as an example to understand the colonization journey of intestinal microorganisms.

Bacillus coagulans is a spore-forming rod-shaped bacterium that belongs to the phylum Lactobacillus. This bacterium was first isolated by scientists in the middle of the last century. It is a component of our intestinal flora and is widely distributed in nature [1].

When we come into contact with food and water, Bacillus coagulans will also enter the body.

The first things they come into contact with are the mouth and esophagus. However, before that, they often have to go through the first step of temperature test. After all, many times our food will be heated by steaming, frying, and stir-frying.

Bacillus coagulans can withstand higher temperatures. Studies have found that when Bacillus coagulans are heated in 85°C salt water for 30 minutes, the number of their living cells does not decrease significantly. This ensures that Bacillus coagulans can withstand higher temperatures without being inactivated, so that they can enter the human body.

Of course, it is not just high temperature, room temperature is also a challenge. Many microorganisms can only be well preserved under low temperature conditions. Once the temperature rises, even at room temperature, they will die quickly. So this is also a major advantage of Bacillus coagulans, that is, it can exist stably at room temperature.

However, what follows is a very difficult test because stomach acid is coming.

There is very strong gastric acid in our stomach, and the pH value can reach about 2-3. Under such strong acidic conditions, many organisms are directly killed by the acid.

So can Bacillus coagulans survive? The answer is yes. Studies have found that Bacillus coagulans can survive stably for more than 3 hours in artificial gastric fluid at pH 2.

Next, after passing through the stomach, it reaches the intestines. At this time, it depends on whether Bacillus coagulans can form a dominant flora and survive. The answer is also feasible.

Bacillus coagulans is an intestinal flora that can successfully survive the test of high temperature and pH, eventually reaching the intestines and maintaining the intestinal condition of the human body [2].

This is the significance of intestinal flora. Bacillus coagulans, as a member of the intestinal flora, and other intestinal flora are the same. They can withstand the test of stomach acid and high temperature, and finally implant into the intestines, become a part of the human body, and play a beneficial role in the human body.

03. Probiotics

Based on this, researchers have invented a new term to define these intestinal flora: probiotics.

As the name suggests, they are bacteria that are beneficial to human health.

The name is very appealing, that is, it must be beneficial to the human body, so not all intestinal flora are probiotics. For example, Escherichia coli is also an intestinal flora, but it is harmful if ingested, so it is naturally not a probiotic. However, Bacillus coagulans is a probiotic.

There are already many snacks and health foods that contain probiotics. You can try to choose some similar products.

Parents are very concerned about their baby's health. For babies who are in the critical period of establishing intestinal function, intestinal flora is of paramount importance, which is related to the baby's digestion and health problems.

Parents should prepare a balanced diet for their children and try not to be picky about food, so that the intestinal flora can be established smoothly.

1. Nakayama O. Spore-forming lactic acid bacteria. Food Processing 1966; 2: 25–7.

2. Ara, Katsutoshi, et al. "Effect of spore-bearing lactic acid-forming bacteria (Bacillus coagulans SANK 70258) administration on the intestinal environment, defecation frequency, fecal characteristics and dermal characteristics in humans and rats." Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 14.1 (2002): 4-13