For years I’ve been looking for a way to increase Bifidobacterium. I’ve been wanting to discuss this all-important gut bacteria, but first I wanted to figure out how to significantly produce more of it since it diminishes with age. The more Bifidobacterium you have, the more energy you have, the better you age, and the better your immune system works. You’ll have less inflammation throughout the body, it primes you for weight loss, and helps decrease food allergies, especially those due to dairy and gluten. It’s also important for the production of vitamin B, antioxidants, conjugated linoleic acids, enhancement of colon butyrate production, and so much more. [1]
Bifidobacteria have long been regarded as one of the most beneficial members of the human gut microbiome. Lower levels of this beneficial bacteria have been shown in obese and diabetic individuals and in individuals taking antibiotics. Also, those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease have shown lower levels of bifidobacteria as well. [2]
You acquire most of your bifidobacterium at birth.[3] Bifidobacteria become the predominant (95%) microorganisms in the intestine within a week after birth.[4] Mothers transmit their unique bifidobacterial strains to their children shortly after birth but mostly it comes in mother’s milk. So important is this bacteria that they started adding it to many baby formulas. In infants, Bifidobacteria help establish gut barrier function and modulate immune system response. Bifidobacteria species and subspecies are some of the most important and beneficial bacteria strains in the intestine, not only for infants but also for adults. They’ve even found that long-lived centenarians have many specific strains of Bifidobacterium in their guts while most older people have very small amounts.[5]
Foods That Feed Bifidobacteria
Certain foods feed bifidobacteria such as fruits (especially berries), kefir, [6] yogurts that contain bifidobacterium, and many vegetables. As you get older, your bifidobacteria diminishes. When you’re young, it comprises 95% of all your gut bacteria. Bifidobacterium levels can be as low as 5% as you get older and you want lots of Bifidobacterium. It keeps you young and healthy! So you need to build it back to help you stay young, keep your weight in check, and your immune system strong – but how?
This felt so important to me that I actually developed a new yogurt with bifidobacteria that is coming out in the future, but even more important was my own journey on how to build it rapidly with a special prebiotic.
Supplementation in pill form doesn’t work very well and can often end up in parts of the body where they don’t belong, so it’s not a good idea to supplement with bifidobacterium pills. One of the best ways to make more bifidobacteria is from Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) which are special carbohydrates just like the ones you had at birth and it’s easy to do. And no, you’re not drinking human milk but rather a prebiotic that creates more bifidobacterium. If you have a lot of bifidobacteria, it feeds your other good bacteria too, and then you are off and running.
But before I tell you how to do this, let me tell you how I found the information.