Longevity has been possible thanks to better living and eating habits, and greater access to health services, medicines and treatments, but it is also closely related to the individual’s intestinal health, which can be reflected in healthy aging and survival itself. .
Gut care has become vital for maintaining health as studies have demonstrated its ability to prevent disease – as it houses approximately 70% of the body’s immune cells, in addition to different microorganisms that directly interfere with health.
Of the 100 trillion microorganisms that make up the microbiota – a number 10 times greater than the number of human cells – 70% are concentrated in the intestine. With more than 1000 different species, these microscopic beings maintain a harmonious coexistence in the gastrointestinal tract.
However, during the aging process, the microbiota also undergoes various physiological changes, just as it occurs with the cells, tissues and organs of the human body, and this beneficial population tends to decrease and give more space to opportunistic microorganisms, which can cause serious health risks.
The elderly also have a natural decline in various functions of the digestive system, such as changes in peristalsis – movements performed by the intestines in order to expel fecal matter.
These natural changes that occur throughout life can lead to the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria causing an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota, reducing the ability to absorb nutrients and, consequently, leading to a lack of vitamins.
“Furthermore, these alterations facilitate the appearance of disorders in the gastrointestinal tract, including constipation”, explains Adrianne Machado, an analyst at the Department of Sciences and Research at Yakult do Brasil.
For all these reasons, in old age it is important to maintain greater care with the intestinal microbiota to avoid diseases, especially infections, which usually occur as a consequence of physiological decline and immune responses.
To have a healthy intestine, among other actions, it is important to eat foods that help maintain the balance of the intestinal microbiota, such as the probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota – exclusive to Yakult –, present in the brand’s fermented milk.
Scientific evidence
Numerous studies have already demonstrated that the ingestion of the probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota promotes beneficial health effects. One such study was carried out by the Department of Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Juntondo in Tokyo, Japan.
Published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2007, it demonstrated that regular consumption of Lactobacillus casei Shirota positively influenced the activity of immune system cells in middle-aged and elderly individuals (Effects of a fermented milk drink containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on the human NK-Cell activity).
Another research with the elderly, published in 2011 in the British Journal of Nutrition, also carried out in Japan, showed that the continuous consumption of fermented milk with Yakult’s probiotic can contribute positively to the relief of gastroenteritis caused by norovirus.
Isso graças ao restabelecimento do equilíbrio da microbiota (Effect of the continuous intake of probiotic-fermented milk containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on fever in a mass outbreak of norovírus gastroenteritis and the faecal microflora in a health service facility for the aged).
