Lactobacillus-reuteri: Top Health Benefits For A Healthy Lifestyle

What Is Lactobacillus-reuteri?

There are trillions of bacteria living in and on the human body, but many of those can be invaders that don’t actually begin in the body. Certain probiotic bacteria exist in the body, yet human stores of them seem to have depleted in recent years. ¹ 

One substantial strain of probiotic bacteria is Lactobacillus-reuteri, also called L. reuteri. It’s become clear in recent decades that the beneficial L. reuteri strain has presented itself as one of the genuinely indigenous bacteria to the human gastrointestinal tract. In humans, L. reuteri can be found in the GI tract, skin, urinary tract, and in a mother’s breast milk. ²

L. Reuteri evolved despite some specific locations within your gastrointestinal tract that have developed harsher climates for microorganism growth. For instance, your small intestine has a low pH level due to the gastric acids and bile salts within its upper portion. But L. reuteri strains are relatively resistant to both bile salts and low pH conditions. ³ This makes them an optimal probiotic strain. 

History Of Lactobacillus-reuteri

L. reuteri was initially isolated for research and experimentation in 1962. Over the last half-century, it has been characterized as a heterofermentative species. It thrives in atmospheres with limited oxygen supplies and grows well in the human gastrointestinal tract. Because it grows well in the GI tract, it has the potential to be beneficial. ⁴

Recently, however, there has been a sizeable decrease in the abundance of L. reuteri in human GI systems. The “drought” likely has to do with several modern conveniences in human life like the use of antibiotics and the potentially harmful western diet (aka the fast-food diet). ⁵

Unfortunately, the decrease in L. reuteri in the gut microbiome also coincides with higher instances of gastrointestinal illnesses. ⁶

Sources:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/
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5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/