Most people who drink yogurt have seen the name probiotics. It is an old partner of many yoghurt products, which can promote intestinal peristalsis and facilitate the absorption of nutrients in yoghurt by the human body. Probiotics are often said to be magical by some yoghurt brands, even that it can cure all diseases. Is that true? Ruan Guangfeng, director of the Science and Technology Communication Department and associate research librarian of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, said in an interview with the reporter of China Consumer News that probiotics do have the function of regulating intestinal flora, but due to the effects of strain specificity and individual differences, probiotics products can only play a nutritional auxiliary role at many times, and can not have the so-called curative effect against "100 diseases". Ruan Guangfeng explained that probiotics refer to a kind of living microorganisms that can play a beneficial role in human health when ingested in sufficient quantities, such as regulating intestinal flora, promoting nutrient absorption, and regulating immunity. Some people often take probiotics and lactic acid bacteria in yogurt as one thing, but this is not the case. Lactic acid bacteria generally refer to the general term of bacteria that can ferment sugar and mainly produce lactic acid. Not all lactic acid bacteria are probiotics. Some lactic acid bacteria may even be harmful to human body. Only specific lactic acid bacteria strains with scientifically proven health effects can be called probiotics. For example, bifidobacteria and lactobacillus in lactic acid bacteria are probiotics. In recent years, prebiotics has become a hot concept, and many people often equate it with probiotics. In fact, prebiotics are not probiotics. Generally speaking, prebiotics are just a kind of food for probiotics. It cannot be digested by the human body, but it can promote the growth and reproduction of intestinal probiotics and thus promote human health. Therefore, in general, the rational use of probiotics and prebiotics will have a better effect. At present, most scientists believe that probiotics can regulate the intestinal flora, promote the digestion, absorption and metabolism of nutrients in the intestine, and benefit human health. However, probiotics strains have specificity, that is, the role of different probiotics strains is different, coupled with the impact of individual differences, so many times, probiotics products can only play a nutritional auxiliary role, and can not replace formal medical diagnosis and treatment. In addition, some yoghurt products with "sterilization" or "inactivation treatment" on the label on the market sometimes claim to be probiotics products, but according to the definition of the World Health Organization, probiotics should be live bacteria, and dead bacteria should not be probiotics. Therefore, sterilized or inactivated products should not be considered probiotic products. Ruan Guangfeng said that most studies have shown that the effect of probiotics live bacteria is better than that of corresponding dead bacteria, so consumers are advised to choose products with live bacteria as much as possible. However, the existing scientific research also shows that the metabolites and cell components of dead bacteria may have certain health benefits, such as polysaccharides, short chain fatty acids and other substances, which are beneficial to health. (Xinhua News Agency)