Glossary Archives

5 08, 2022

H as Holobiont

Laura_Exden2022-08-05T10:56:29+02:0005 August 2022|Glossary, H|Comments Off on H as Holobiont

Holobiont... A mysterious term that has been emerging for the last ten years. What is its meaning? Humans, animals, plants.... We all have one thing in common: we are made up of a wide variety of micro-organisms (bacteria, yeast, viruses, fungi, etc.). We are "Jamais seul" (never alone), as Marc-André Selosse puts it in his book of the same name: organisms resulting from the evolution of life have always had to deal with microbes. This microbial community, present in and on animals / plants / humans, forms ecosystems called microbiota. The most popular, or at least the most studied in humans, [...]

18 03, 2022

M as microbiome

Laura_Exden2022-03-31T15:21:33+02:0018 March 2022|Glossary, M, That's your concern|Comments Off on M as microbiome

You may be already familiar with the microbiota, an organ that is the subject of so much research and is involved in several health phenomena. But do you know the microbiome? How is it defined? How is it different from the microbiota? Microbiota and microbiome: Two similar yet different words Although they sound similar, the two words do not have the same meaning. A recent study (Berg et al., 2020) highlights the distinctions between microbiota and microbiome. The microbiota is defined as all the micro-organisms living on or inside a living being. It consists mainly of bacteria, but also fungi, viruses, [...]

10 12, 2021

P as psychobiotics

Laura_Exden2022-03-31T15:34:16+02:0010 December 2021|Glossary, P|Comments Off on P as psychobiotics

Psychobiotics... An attractive word suggesting an improvement in mental state through the consumption of ingredients of interest. Newcomers to the world of 'Biotics', they are not easy to identify. How can they be defined? How do they work? What are their health benefits? Psychobiotics: an emerging concept It is only in 2013 that the term "psychobiotics" appears. Its creators, clinical psychiatrist Professor Ted Dinan and neuroscientist Professor John Cryan, define it as "live organism that, when ingested in adequate amounts, produces a health benefit in patients suffering from psychiatric illness”. At that time, they were only applying the definition to a [...]

15 10, 2021

S as Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)

Laura_Exden2021-10-14T10:01:35+02:0015 October 2021|Glossary, S|Comments Off on S as Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are compounds considered as postbiotics, which are of increasing interest to the scientific community for their beneficial effects on our health. But what are they? Short-chain fatty acids are molecules of up to 6 carbon atoms, produced by certain bacteria of the gut microbiota in the colon. These microbial metabolites are derived from the fermentation of complex carbohydrates, the fibres, which could not be digested and assimilated. Their production therefore depends on the bacterial species present in the intestinal microbiota, the type of fibre but also the transit time. These metabolites exist in different forms such [...]

23 07, 2021

Q as QPS

Laura_Exden2021-07-22T12:35:53+02:0023 July 2021|Glossary, Q|Comments Off on Q as QPS

QPS means “Qualified Presomption of Safety”. This is a list serving as a tool to quickly identify risks related to the use of a microorganism. Generally, lactic acid bacteria considered as probiotics have this status. What does QPS mean? QPS is an acronym of Qualified Presomption of Safety. This is a European process carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), established in 2007. The objective is to establish a safety assumption based on reasonable evidence. It assesses the safety of bacteria, yeasts, fungi and viruses when they require market authorisations as sources feed additives, food enzymes, food additives and [...]

16 04, 2021

E as Enterotypes

Laura_Exden2021-04-29T17:21:30+02:0016 April 2021|E, Glossary|Comments Off on E as Enterotypes

Enterotypes allow individuals to be classified according to their intestinal bacteria. The bacterial species housed in the digestive tract are uniquely combined and distributed in each human being. Thus, each person has his or her own microbiota. Nevertheless, in the frame of the European MetaHit project (2008 to 2012), researchers have succeeded in identifying and characterising three different major phenotypes of microbiota, called enterotypes. They can be likened to a bacterial signature, like blood groups. Unlike blood types which remain unchanged throughout life, enterotypes can change, although they are relatively stable over time. A change in diet or taking medication such [...]

5 02, 2021

P as Parabiotics

Laura_Exden2021-04-30T09:15:42+02:0005 February 2021|Glossary, P|Comments Off on P as Parabiotics

Several names can be attributed to them: parabiotics, paraprobiotics, ghost or inactivated probiotics. This is an emerging concept in the field of health nutrition. They can confer a range of health benefits to the host, just like probiotics. Definition of parabiotics Its definition is close to the probiotics one according to the WHO and the FAO. Only few modifications have been made. They are therefore "inactivated (non-viable) microbial cells which, when administered in sufficient amounts, confer benefits to consumers". Thus, parabiotics are inactivated/dead/non-viable microbial cells of probiotics, intact or broken, containing cellular components of probiotic cells upon lysis, such as teichoic [...]

18 09, 2020

P as Postbiotics

Laura_Exden2021-04-30T10:29:46+02:0018 September 2020|Glossary, P|Comments Off on P as Postbiotics

We know the Probiotics, the Prebiotics, the Synbiotics… But have you ever heard of Postbiotics? Postbiotics mean “after the probiotic”. These are by-products of fermentation processes taking place in the gut. In concrete terms, these are metabolites secreted by living bacteria or released after bacterial lysis. Among them: enzymes, peptides, organic acids, polysaccharides, cell surface proteins… Postbiotics are of interest to the scientific community for their many advantages: They have an identified chemical structure Their safety can be easily assessed They can be kept for a long time They are provided with signaling molecules that can present very interesting activities for [...]

24 07, 2020

D as digestion

Laura_Exden2021-08-18T11:51:39+02:0024 July 2020|Digest, Glossary|Comments Off on D as digestion

Eating is a universal and daily act that is essential for human survival. Food that we eat contains nutrients, which are vital for our body to function properly. During the digestion phenomenon, the large molecules provided by food are broken down in the digestive tract into nutrients, which will pass into the blood in order to be used by the cells of the organism. Digestive physiology The digestive tract is like a “pipe” about 7 meters long which extends from the mouth to the anus. This organ is very sophisticated: numerous biological and chemical reactions take place. A muscular system is [...]

20 03, 2020

I as Immunity

Laura_Exden2021-08-18T11:16:43+02:0020 March 2020|Glossary, I, Immunity|Comments Off on I as Immunity

During this difficult time, having a strong immunity is important. Indeed, external threats like virus can cause serious disorders in immunocompromised people. Strengthening the barrier effect of our intestinal microbiota to limit the spread of the virus may be an alternative to consider. How does the body defend itself against attack by external factors? To protect itself against pathogenic agents, our body employs its own defence mechanisms: the immune system. The immune system, made up of a set of cells, tissues and substances that combat infection, is hosted to the tune of almost 70% in the gut. It defends the body, developing humoral and cell-mediated immune responses designed to [...]