Intestinal Bacteria

In contrast to the small intestine with 103 - 107 cells/g stool, the large intestine with 1011 - 1012 cells/g stool is very densely populated with bacteria, which together form the intestinal flora. It is estimated that about 2 kilograms of bacteria do their work in a human intestine alone.

These mainly include Escherichia coli, Enterococci, Bacillus acidophilus and Bacillus bifidus = Lactobacillus bifidus. These bacteria are essential for an intact intestinal environment. They clean up the bowels all the time. All food components, which were not digested before, are further degraded by them by rotting and fermentation processes. They fight intruding, damaging bacteria. Thus they always provide for a healthy climate in the intestine.

However, this balance can be disturbed by various influences. For example, infectious diseases or the intake of antibiotics may from time to time cause the balance to shift to the detriment of the harmful bacteria. The bacteria of the natural intestinal flora are then no longer able to compensate the effect of harmful intruders or undigested intestinal contents.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmflora _{(Wikipedia CC-by-sa-3.0)}