What is the role of bacteria in the gut?
1. The gut bacteria provides essential capacities for the fermentation of non-digestible substrates like dietary fibers and endogenous intestinal mucus.
2. Gut bacteria play an important role in human health, such as supplying essential nutrients, aiding in the digestion of cellulose, and promoting angiogenesis and enteric nerve function.
3. The gut bacteria conduct specialized functions in host nutrient metabolism – drug metabolism and xenobiotic, maintaining the structural integrity of the gut mucosal barrier, safeguarding against pathogens by serving as a protective barrier against intestinal infections, and immunomodulation.
4. Further, they metabolize nutrients from the food you intake and some medications, production of Vitamin K helping in making blood-clotting proteins.