Probiotics: Types of Good Bacteria in Your Digestive System

Probiotics put live, beneficial bacteria to work in our digestive systems, altering the gut microflora by adding "good" bacteria and, depending upon the strain of probiotic, creating an environment that may fight illness and disease.

Although research is being done to determine exactly how probiotics work to improve health and how effective they are for a wide variety of health conditions, some focus is given to probiotics that work to restore the balance of good bacteria already in your system.

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Your body teems with millions of bacteria, many found in your digestive system, and they are made up of multiple strains, or different kinds, of bacteria.

"Friendly bacteria in the digestive system occur mainly in the colon, also called the large intestine, and in the part of the small intestine furthest away from the stomach," according to the British website, Types of Bacteria. "The esophagus, stomach and first section of the small intestine are mostly bacteria-free because of the deterrent effect of the strong stomach acid and the high level of digestive enzymes. Most of the bacteria that live in the small intestine and the colon are friendly – they do the body no harm and many of them carry out useful functions."

It is estimated that there are more than 5,600 strains of bacteria that live in or on your body, most of those in the digestive tract, LiveScience said.

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Although those bacteria strains vary significantly from person to person – think about different diets, environments, and lifestyles – four gut divisions, called phylum by scientists, of bacteria typically dominate the gut, according to the journal "Cellular and Molecular Immunology." They are:

1. Firmicutes
2. Bacteroidetes
3. Actinobacteria
4. Proteobacteria

But within each of those four categories are thousands of strains of bacteria that may be found occurring naturally in your gut. Many of the probiotic strains contained in supplements originate from strains found in the human gut. Companies that make probiotics may differentiate. Optibac Probiotics, for instance, said its human strains include Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM®, Bifidobacterium bifidum Bb-02, and Bifidobacterium infantis Rosell-33.

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