Dysbiosis Archives

Right churning and left churning bacteria

I saw a product in the supermarket the other day called 'roer' in the yoghurt section which translates into "mix" Not knowing what it was, I asked about it on a dutch/american email group that I belong to. This is the response I got and I was wondering what everyone else thinks of it:

Our bodies produces lactic acid, nearly all of which is right-churning.

:===Begin Quote===
Lactic acid occurs in the blood (in the form of its salts, called lactates) when glycogen is broken down in muscle and can be converted back to glycogen in the liver. Lactates are also the products of fermentation (q.v.) in certain
bacteria.
- Encyclopedia Britannica
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=47859&tocid=0
:===End Quote===

Lactic acid causes your muscles grow tired. Your liver then converts the stuff to sugar and other fuels.

In yogurt and other fermented dairy products, lactic acid is created by "live cultures" (the marketing folks think this sounds better than "live bacteria").
Lactic acid gives these products their sour flavor.

Depending on the bacteria used, the lactic acid produced is either right- or left churning - or, more commonly, both. This refers to the way light bends when you shine it through the lactic acid - not to the direction in which the product is stirred. Something to do with the molecular construction.

Regular yogurt bacteria are 50% left-churning and 50% right-churning. By adjusting these percentages, you can create different products - such as Roer. You can then market this to a health-conscious but largely uninformed public("includes right-churning lactic acid"). Thing is, *all* sour dairy products include both left- and right churning lactic acids - only in different proportions.

It is claimed that your liver can handle right-churning lactic acid more easily than left-churning acid. If you take in too much left-churning lactic acid, your liver can not handle it, and all kinds of nasty things will happen. No need to panic, though. An adult would have to ingest 7 liters of yogurt in one sitting for that to occur.
Anton (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Re: Right churning and left churning bacteria (Archive in dysbiosis.)