What are probiotics and prebiotics?

We have gradually come to learn through yogurt manufacturer advertisements about the advantages of yogurt. It is true that bacteria in our digestive system can be of harm or it may help to us, and the balance of the bacteria community in our bodies has a direct effect on our gastrointestinal conditions and health. As a matter of fact, cultivated yogurt is, in fact, not some high-tech product. From a very early time in Taiwan “Yokult” has been a popular flavored yogurt drink that contains Lactobacillus bulgaricus. And traditionally, the medication “Biofermin（表飛鳴）” is “good bacteria” in capsule form fed by old grandmas to infants or their grandchildren with a gastrointestinal condition. As a matter of fact, mankind has been using such good bacteria to improve gastrointestinal conditions historically for thousands of years. The yogurt we have now is but another commercial product that contains Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Of yogurt products now sold on the market, they are mostly fermented Lactobacillus products from Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus as their fundamental bacteria type. AB yogurt milk, aside from the bacteria types mentioned above, contains Lactobacillus acidophilus (as we usually call the “A” bacteria), and Bifido bacterium (as we usually call this “B” bacteria; and the most common bacteria type would be Bifido lactis or Bifido longum, and others). “Biofermin（表飛鳴）” it is primarily a mixture of powdered Bifidobacterium bifidum and condensed Streptococcus faecalis. ABC Lactobacillus contains Lactobacillus casei, aside from the previously four kinds of bacteria.

Of such Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, and Streptococcus – the so-called probiotic, they are the “beneficial bacteria” microorganisms that are good for intestinal health, and they can hinder the proliferation of diseased bacteria (“bad bacteria”) in the intestines, and facilitate the absorption and metabolism of special nutrients aiding digestion within the intestine. As for prebiotics, they are of the special nutrients that intestinal probiotic needs can help the growth of probiotics, which are primarily of such carbonhydrates that cannot be easily digested by the human body, such as dietary fiber, Oligosaccharides, and a few special vitamins that contain non-carbonhydrates and minerals.

Therefore, probiotic is of the “good bacteria” sort beneficial to our health. It can help maintain balance of the bacteria community of the host, and is the kind of live microorganism that is good to the host. For instance, most yogurt drinks known by most people well are mainly composed of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and partial coccus or bacilli, which are considered to be of AB bacteria that are favorable to health.

Prebiotics are the nutrients that can stimulate the growth of good bacteria in our intestinal tract. Materials of these kinds are of dietary fiber, inulin, and oligosaccharides that we often hear about. “Prebiotic materials” as they are called can be utilized by probiotics to generate organic acid and help stimulate intestinal digestion. Furthermore, prebiotics can also facilitate the growth of “probiotics” and suppress the amount of bad bacteria in the body, rendering the intestine healthier.

The sources of prebiotics, aside from the drinks or milk products sold at the market that contain Oligosaccharides, can, in fact, be found in all kinds of natural vegetables, such as whole-cereal products, bean products (soybean especially), seaweed, mushrooms, underground roots and stem, fresh vegetable, and seasonal fruits. With these foods, one cannot only extract natural dietary fiber, but also prebiotics. Therefore, they are the best choice one can have.

The advantages of probiotics are that it helps to maintain intestinal health, to improve intestinal regularity, and to resist intestinal cancer. It can also help digestion and absorption, and facilitate the synthesis of vitamins, and intestinal health and digestion problems.
Nonetheless, new studies have discovered that probiotics have many more functions than previously known. Among them, it would help to enhance immunity. As indicated in clinical studies, probiotics can stimulate non-specific immunity response of human macrophages, specific immunity response to generate antibodies from the lymphatic system, and secretion of γ interferon, while helping increase the amount of serum antibody IgA. Thus, probitoics are useful to prevent enterovirus infection.
It is also indicated from the studies that probiotics can help lower the infection of the respiratory system by coronavirus and cure flu. Second, probiotic can also reduce allergy. Scientists have discovered that T Lymphocytes – acting as hub of the central cell – can be subdivided into systems according to the kind of cytokines it secretes.
First, it would secrete γ interferon that would generate Th1 lymphocytes that facilitate cell immunity response; second, it would secrete interleukin among cells that would facilitate B lymphocytes to secrete ImmunoglobulinＥ（IgE）antibody as well as facilitate Th2 lymphocytes type II of humoral immunity. Then the balance relationship of the two would become dynamic, and that would strengthen the immune response mechanism, boosting resistance to antigens. Thus, if the response of Th2 is too strong, an allergic reaction would occur, and the immunity of the newborn can easily tilt to allergy of Th2. Probiotic is, therefore, helpful to establish the balance of Th1/Th2 immunity for the newborn.

As man grows old, in addition to varying diet habit and poor healthy conditions, it would have largely reduced existence of probiotic, while other bacteria clusters such as C. perfringens, Streptococcus spp., Enterobacter pathogenic or Saprophytic bacteria would become prevalent clusters. And the metabolism of these bacteria could have generated cancerous materials, or non-polar lipid metabolism materials that is related to human aging, and then toxic materials as amine and phenols would come along. Of such, it brings the regression and metabolic hindrance to our biological function, which initiates human aging and lesions. Therefore, to increase the amount of probiotic and maintain the balance of bacteria flora would be healthful.

Therefore, if we combine probiotics and prebiotics for consumption often, it would render marvelous effect to our health. As of such, if we partake in “I-Mei Bean Milk with Yogurt” that contains rich Lactobacillus as well as natural dietary fiber and dietary oligosaccharides, we would easily achieve the objective of preserving healthy intestines.

Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL)

Glycemic Index (GI) is a relative index system that measures the effect of different carbohydrates upon the density of glucose (sugar in the blood. The higher the index is, the faster the rise of density of glucose in the blood, even though the same amount of carbohydrate is taken. To calculate GI, the first step is to have the subject take a certain amount of a type of food which contains carbohydrates, normally 50g. The X-axis plots the time and the Y-axis plots the density of blood sugar. Take the Area Under the 2 hour blood glucose response Curve, AUC within two hours, divide by the reference AUC integration obtained from the test of white bread or glucose, and then multiply by 100 to get the GI of this food type. If we take the GI which has a glucose reference standard of 100, then the maximum GI we can get from the test will be 100 and that of GI of glucose will be 140, assuming that the GI of white bread is 100. Countries where breads are the main source of carbohydrates, should have the bread GI as the reference standard.

GI is used to measure the carbohydrate content in 5 grams of different types of food. The GI is not calculated for foods that contain little or even no carbohydrate. These include fish, meat, egg and most types of stalk vegetables (excluding root vegetables like potatoes and yams which contain great amount of carbohydrate but including Chinese radish) and liquors (strong liquor, wine and beer; the carbohydrate in liquor has been fermented into alcohol and alcohol calories is 7 per gram) Normally, a high GI can be found in food types that are easily and quickly digested by the human body. The simpler the molecular structure of the carbohydrate is, for example, sucrose, fructose, or liquids and drinks, the quicker it is digested. Furthermore, they are easily absorbed by the human body and released to the blood system as glucose. In contrast, vegetables and whole grains that contain a great amount of fiber and long-chain carbohydrates are not easily digested, decomposed and absorbed. Consequently, they have a low GI. Low GI foods have a lower need compared to high GI types.

Foods that have a GI of or below 65 are considered as low-insulin types. Low GI foods contain less carbohydrate. For instance, there is a greater amount of carbohydrate in bananas compared to strawberries; thus, the GI of bananas is higher. Another example is granulated sugar and fructose. Both belong to the category of carbohydrate; however, the former is a kind of two-molecule glucose and it has a GI value three times that of the latter. Having a low GI, fructose is not easily digested.

Cooking also affects the GI index. Cooked rice is not easily digested and it has a lower GI than rice porridge. Rice that has been dried out has an even lower GI. The GI of a food type can vary depending on the way it is cooked or processed. Low GI foods also contain a greater amount of fiber. Normally, vegetables have a low GI, for they contain lots fiber. Vegetables such as potatoes and sweet potatoes are excluded in this category, for they contain a great amount of carbohydrate.4. Low GI foods contain more fat and protein. GI has nothing to do with fat and protein and thus milk and cheese are low GI foods. Though they have a large amount of protein and fat, they have less carbohydrate.

GI means the effect of every gram of carbohydrate on the density of blood sugar in the human body. The quantity of carbohydrate is crucial to the density of glucose. The more carbohydrates we take, the faster the density rises. Consequently, another index, the Glycemic Load (GL), has been developed to measure the influence of food on blood sugar. To measure GL, we obtain the weight of carbohydrate (in grams) in a certain portion of food  and multiply this weight by its GI and then divide it by 100. For instance, there are 42 grams of carbohydrate in a dish of 150 grams of cooked rice. Its GI is 45 and thus its GL is calculated as (42 x 45) / 100 = 18.9. This means that 150 grams of cooked rice has a weight of 18.9 grams of pure glucose. By calculating the GL of our daily meals, we get the amount of food that can be transformed into pure glucose. GL makes us understand that the density of our blood sugar depends on the amount of food we eat, even though we take low GI food. Low GI foods do not guarantee a low blood sugar density.

Low GI foods quench and delay the sensation of hunger.  High GI foods increase the speed of secretion of insulin, decompose and dramatically decrease blood sugar. When insulin density decreases, Glucagons increase accompanied by the secretion of the hormones Epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisone that all together make us feel hungry. This is why high GI foods make people feel hungry,eat more, and get fat.

High GI foods speed up the secretion of insulin and this could cause resistance to insulin. It could also cause the liver to produce triglyceride from the blood sugar, after the glycogen has reached its maximum amount. The lipocyte will be stored as fat increasing the triglycerides. Some time after taking meals, the blood sugar decreases very quickly. At this time, the secretion of glucagons increases, causing the triglycerides to transform to fatty acids, increasing triglyceride density. These lead to potential problems of cardio-vascular diseases. Some diets focus on taking low GI foods. High GI foods bring more fat to our bodies. However, some studies have shown a different conclusion. People who take high GI foods lose nearly the same weight as those who take low GI foods, if they take in almost equal food calories. Therefore, it is the total amount of calories of the food we take that is crucial to our weight change. If the calories are too high, we get fat, regardless of the amount of carbohydrates, fat or protein contained. Consider the condition of low blood sugar known as Hypoglycemia, which could be caused by taking high GI foods. This condition will make us feel tired and hungry for more high GI foods, leading to weight increase.

PERKEMBANGAN TEKNOLOGI PRODUK HORTIKULTURA PADA MILLENIUM MENDATANG By Simon BW ( Contoh pidato Guru Besar Univ. Brawijaya, Malang)

Berikut ini contoh pidato Guru Besar penulis sebagai guru besar Teknologi Produk Hortikultura pada Jurusan Teknologi Hasil Pertanian, Fak. Teknologi Pertanian UB, Malang. Ini hanya sekedar contoh. Namun karena pidato gubes ini ditulis dan disampaikan pada tahun 2000, maka beberapa poin dalam pidato ilmiah ini sudah tidak up to date lagi. Namun insya allah format penulisan pidato gubes tsb sudah benar di lingkungan Universitas Brawijaya, Malang. pidato-gubes-simonbw

PEDOMAN PIDATO GURU BESAR DI UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA by Simon BW

File berikut ini merupakan PEDOMAN PIDATO GURU BESAR DI LINGKUNGAN UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA. BAGI guru besar yang akan promosi guru besar DIWAJIBKAN menyusun naskah PIDATO ILMIAH yang merupakan hal wajib bagi dosen yang telah diangkat menjadi guru besar di UB. Guru besar yang bersangkutan harus menyusun naskah pidato ilmiahnya dan dibacakan pada rapat senat terbula UB dalam acara pengukuhan guru besar baru di lingkungan UB. Walaupun file ini masih draft namun secara substansi telah disetujui oleh semua anggota Badan Pertimbangan Senat (BPS) UB. Dimana Simon BW sebagai penyusun draft naskah sekaligus sekretaris BPS merangkap sekretaris Senat Universitas Brawijaya. Sehingga bagi dosen yang akan dikukuhkan menjadi guru besar dapat mengacu materi penyusunan pidato ilmiah guru besar sesuai dengan pedoman yang ditulis berikut ini. Walaupun ada beberapa kalimat, misalnya; Lampiran ini belum dibuat dst. memang tulisan tsb belum selesai discanning atau dibuat. Untuk keperluan yang sifatnya urgent file berikut ini dapat dipakai sebagai pedoman penulisan makalah ilmiah pidato guru besar. Semoga bermanfaat: pedoman-pidatogubes1

EFEK MELAMINE PADA TUBUH MANUSIA (versi Indonesia)

BUKTI EFEK KARSINOGENIK (ZAT PENYEBAB KANKER)

Evaluasi: Tidak cukup bukti pada manusia bahwa MELAMINE dapat menyebabkan kanker. Namun tubuh manusia tidak memiliki sistem ensim dalam pencernakan yang dapat mencerna MELAMINE (lihat struktur molekul MELAMINE, PADA TULISAN SAYA). sehingga bila termakan secara tidak sengaja baik dari makanan/minuman yg mengandung MELAMINE DALAM JUMLAH BANYAK dalam waktu singkat. Atau termakan dalam jumlah amat sedikit namun dalam jangka waktu lama 5, 10 bahkan 20 tahun. maka jelas akan menimbulkan masalah pada ginjal. Karena ginjal berfungsi sebagai filter. Akibatnya terjadi gangguan ginjal bahkan bisa gagal ginjal. Tidak heran banyak kasus anak-2 sudah gagal ginjal, harus cuci darah dsb.

hasil tes pada binatang percobaan, menunjukkan MELAMINE  menimbulkan tumor pada kandung kemih. atau tumor pada saluran kandung kemih.

HASIL TES PADA MANUSIA: MELAMINE bila termakan dalam jumlah cukup besar, akan menimbulkan iritasi secara reversible atau irreversible, not permanen, apalagi menimbulkan KEMATIAN, pada jaringan yang terekspose atau terpapar atau secara terus menerus kontak dengan melamine. namun yang jelas akan menimbulkan DISCOMFORT atau ke tidak nyamanan. namun JELAS PADA BAYI dimana bayi peka terhadap barang asing, terbukti menimbulkan KEMATIAN PADA BAYI yg minum susu tercermar oleh MELAMINE.

BUKTI LAIN: pekerja yang kontak dengan melamine, baik melamine terhirup lewat pernafasan, karena melamine dapat terbakar, atau kontak pada kulit, MENIMBULKAN IRITASI, GATAL, gangguan KULIT dan gangguan pernafasan bila terhirup lewat hidung.