Good Bacteria & Gut Flora - Optimum Health Telehealth: Wellness Resource

Good Bacteria

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Good bacteria (depicted to the left) are among the normal intestinal microbes that live in your intestines. In fact, some bacteria are good, and some are bad. Indeed, it is the good ones that help make up your intestinal flora (or gut flora as some people call it). Some of the bad ones are depicted in the second picture.

Exactly where do the good bacteria live?

The good bacteria live in the digestive tract. Let’s take a closer look. The digestive tract is a long tube that begins at your mouth. The first section of the digestive tract is a tubular structure that runs from your mouth to your stomach. This is the food pipe (a.k.a. esophagus). Next, there is the stomach and another tubular section that runs from your stomach to your anus. These are the small and large intestines. The large intestine (a.k.a colon) is labeled in the picture below. Again, this tube ends at your anus, where your bowel movements exit your body.

The good bacteria and other good microbes are now known to live in the stomach as well as the wall of the large intestine. In fact, these microbes form what can be thought of as a city of good microbes lining the large intestine. Notably, the community of beneficial microbes that lines the large intestine (a.k.a. the colon) is called the intestinal flora.

What does the intestinal flora do?

The intestinal flora helps:

Digest your food, such as lactose in dairy products, to prevent lactose intolerance.
Keep bad microbes from taking over your intestines and causing problems like smelly gas, diarrhea, and more.
Keep your stool moist to help you have 2 to 3 bowel movements daily.
Bulk up your stool and lead to an urge to pass your bowels.
Bulk up your stool so the fiber content can act like a broom, sweeping your intestines clean.