The world of Tzu Chi June 2021 (Vol.135)

2021 • 06 58 ellness Translated by Lee You Zhuan Cultivate Your Own Probiotics Instead of Taking em! Our gut microbes feed on dietary fibre primarily from fruits and vegetables, which cannot be digested by our body. Once, Rui Jia asked, “If we do not eat fruits and vegetables, what would these gut bacteria eat then?” I smiled and said, “The answer is simple, isn’t it? They would just ‘eat’ you up!” W hen sorting out my old things at the end of last year, I re-read my high school biology notes that was given by Mr. Morgan Vadiveloo 27 years ago, and which have been in my safekeeping all these years. Everyone forms affinity differently with people around them. Mr. Vadiveloo, who was passionate about teaching, was strict but warm towards students; he had inspired me and others to develop a strong interest in biology. When I shared the teacher’s notes with my daughter, Rui Jia, she pointed to the drawing of the digestive system and exclaimed in surprise, “Mum, you studied about large intestine back then too!” I smiled. We learned that the final destination for the ingested food through the digestive system was the large intestine, which is about 1.5 metres in length. At that time, the understanding of the large intestine was limited to functions such as water recovery. There was no concept of beneficial microbes living in the gut. This concept only became popular in the late 1990s. Rui Jia loves to drink cultured milk, and the cultured milk advertisements will attract her attention. Whenever she saw a cultured milk advertisement while walking, she will stop to read the fine text on it. Perhaps it was the influence of the advertisements. She initially thought that the microorganisms that settle in the intestine were all from the cultured milk or yogurt she had taken. Her idea did not come as a surprise as some adults also thought that the probiotic products they took as supplement will attach to the large intestine and stay there. As mentioned in my previous article, what colonize the intestine are the indigenous microbes that have settled there from the very beginning. The microbes that enter our body through fermented food, such as probiotic products, cultured milk, yoghurt, Japanese Natto or Kimchi, are regarded as Hi-Bye Friends, or passers-by in the intestine. They cannot remain permanently and “take root” because the ecology of the indigenous microbes in the intestine is not easily replaceable. At present, scientists have yet to fully grasp the complex relationship between gut microbes and the human body, and there are still many unanswered questions about probiotics. However, I believe the answers to probiotic-related questions will surface in time to come. Meanwhile, together with Rui Jia, we should carefully consider the fact of the matter—how to eat properly to take care of the indigenous microbes that live in our gut and coexist with us, instead of spending our energy and money on introducing endless foreign microbes into our body. Feeding the gut microbes Let us think: What kind of food does the