The Difference Between Probiotics and Digestive Enzymes

There are as many as four to five hundred kinds of bacteria in the human intestine, some of which secrete antibiotic-like substances to combat harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, and Clostridium perfringens. Such bacteria are called probiotics. The presence of probiotics can maintain the balance of the microbial ecology in the intestinal tract, maintain the stability of the intestinal environment, lower the pH value in the intestine, enhance local immune function, and prevent bacterial translocation in the intestine.

Can probiotics solve indigestion?
According to national standards, the number of live bacteria contained in a product of active lactic acid bacteria per milliliter cannot be less than 1 million. This does not refer to the number of live bacteria in the product, but the number of live bacteria that can enter the intestinal tract. In terms of the current transportation and storage conditions of probiotic products, most of the live bacteria will face the problem of inactivation, which is difficult to reach the standard. Therefore, although probiotics are theoretically effective for digestion, the actual product quality is difficult to achieve.

Most probiotic drinks on the market contain more than 9g/100ml of sugar. According to this calculation, a 500ml bottle of lactic acid bacteria drink may contain 10 cubes of sugar. Such long-term high sugar intake is undoubtedly worse for patients with indigestion. Long-term excessive intake of the flora will destroy the balance of the flora in the human intestinal tract and adversely affect digestive function.

What is the use of digestive enzymes?
Dyspepsia is generally divided into mechanical dyspepsia and chemical dyspepsia according to different causes. The former is mainly caused by gastrointestinal motility disorders, while chemical dyspepsia refers to abdominal distension mainly caused by lack of bile or insufficient secretion of digestive enzymes, accompanied by loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, early satiety, belching, steatorrhea and other symptoms. Supplementing digestive enzymes is the focus of treatment.

Studies have shown that a large part of probiotics' relief of indigestion symptoms is to promote the secretion of digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, but due to the limitations of current technology, the effect is very limited. Therefore, the real solution to the symptoms of chemical dyspepsia is to supplement sufficient digestive enzymes. In clinical practice, Mite (Compound Azinamide Enteric-coated Tablets) is commonly used to supplement pancreatic lipase, trypsin, etc., to promote the metabolism of major nutrients.

In addition, the simethicone contained in Mite can also effectively relieve the symptoms of abdominal distension. Compared with probiotics, supplementation of digestive enzymes is more direct and effective for patients with indigestion.

The difference between digestive enzymes and probiotics
1. Digestive enzymes generally take effect in a short time, and the main digestive enzymes are pepsin, which generally works in the stomach.

2. It may take one to two weeks for probiotics to show their effects. Therefore, it must be taken in enough to be good for health.

How to choose probiotics?

1. Bacteria
Some strains such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Bacillus coagulans, Lactobacillus acidophilus can be used for food, and the safety is very high. The safety of enterococci remains to be considered. In urinary tract infections, enterococcal infections ranked second, abdominal and pelvic infections, enterococcal infections ranked third, and septicemia infections, enterococcal infections ranked third. In addition, enterococci can also cause the transmission of drug resistance. Therefore, the FAO and WHO jointly issued a report suggesting: Enterococcus should not be used in probiotics.

2. The gastric acid resistance of the strain
The probiotics taken can only function when they reach the intestine smoothly and remain active. Before this, probiotics had to withstand the digestion of gastric juice, bile and pancreatic enzymes, and maintain their activity after reaching the intestinal tract through the digestive tract.

3. Room temperature storage
Due to the backward preparation technology, most of the probiotic live bacteria products need to be stored at a low temperature of 2-8°. When the temperature is high, the probiotics are inactivated. However, due to the high cost of cold chain transportation and relatively low product prices, it is currently difficult to satisfy the entire cold chain. And even if it can be satisfied, people need to put it in the refrigerator after buying it and cannot carry it when going out. Not only the stability of product quality is poor, but it also causes a lot of inconvenience.

4. Number of viable bacteria
Probiotics can only function stably when they reach a certain number (generally more than 1 million CFU is required). Especially for some probiotics that are intolerant to gastric acid and bile salts, they will be lost before reaching the intestine. Therefore, products with a higher number of viable bacteria should be selected as much as possible to ensure that these probiotics maintain a sufficient number in the intestines, which is also a prerequisite for their effects.

5. Clinical verification
Before and after each probiotic drug and health product enter the market, according to the requirements of the relevant departments of various countries and regions, various clinical verifications are required, and the effects of the product can be seen through the test. Therefore, it can be used as a reference when purchasing. Of course, if it can be published in some internationally authoritative journals or scientific research websites, the credibility is very high. However, this is more difficult for ordinary consumers and is only suitable for some people with relevant knowledge background.