Question: How can bacteria affect our cells in a good way?

Christian Gude answered on 10 Jun 2019:

Hi!

Bacteria got a really bad reputation, haven’t they? We are taught that they make us sick and we need to wash our hands properly to kill them before they infect us.

In reality, most bacteria are really helpful for us and we live in synbiosis with them. Without bacteria in your gut, we would get constant stomach aches and we would not be able to digest many foods. In fact, even mental health problems like depression may be caused by an unbalance in the bacteria population in your gut!

The good bacteria protect our gut cells from exposure to pathogenic bacteria and are really important for us to stay healthy. This is why some supermarkets even sell yoghurt drinks they call “probiotic”, which are supposed to contain those good bacteria. I am not sure how many survive the trip past the stomach with all the acid, though.

Of course there are also pathogenic bacteria that can cause all kinds of illnesses and the weaker your immune system is, the more trouble is has to fight them off. But that is not a reason to avoid bacteria wherever you can! Your immune system learns which are harmful and which aren’t. Kids that grew up in overly sanitary households are more prone to become allergic later in life because their immune system didn’t get the proper training.

I hope this answers your question (:
-Chris