10.  Is there a difference between the probiotic bacteria that are found in yogurt, and in nutritional supplements?

Actually, the bacteria that are in yogurt, our intestine, and most natural, nutritional supplements are the same types of probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterialongum. Because of this, these bacteria are referred to in a generic sense as probiotics. So, the term probiotics may refer to the “good” bacteria that are present in food or that live in our intestine, or that are part of a natural supplement.

11.  Where do these probiotic bacteria come from?

As recently as the middle of the last century, bacteria found naturally in food ingredients were used to make a fermented food product. For example, the lactic acid bacteria found naturally in milk were used to make cheese. This was known as wild fermentation. Wild fermentations are no longer used. Today, the probiotic bacteria used in food and natural supplements are harvested via a highly controlled fermentation process. This process results in high numbers of bacteria and ensures the quality and purity of the bacteria.

12.  Why are probiotic bacteria important for digestive health?

Normal microflora (the term commonly used for intestinal bacteria) is associated with good health. An imbalance in this natural microflora (when the beneficial probiotics are outnumbered by the harmful bacteria) is frequently associated with various disease states such as yeast infections and colon cancer.

Eating foods or taking a nutritional supplement containing probiotic bacteria can help support and modify the composition of the large intestine microflora. Microflora of the large intestine assists digestion through fermentation (by making the intestines more inhospitable to invading bacteria species), protection against disease-causing bacteria, and stimulation of the immune system. The probiotics, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, occupy a central role in the intestinal flora and provide health benefits.

13.  What is the difference between digestive enzymes and probiotics? Can they be taken together?

Digestive enzymes, such as protease, amylase, and lipase, act upon food, breaking it down into simpler components that can be used by the body for energy. Without enzymes, digestion could not take place. Therefore, the food that we eat could not be absorbed and utilized by our bodies. Probiotics help the enzymes to digest food and process waste.

In essence, probiotic bacteria and enzymes work together to ensure that the digestive tract is running smoothly. When taken together, enzymes assure greater levels of digestion and absorption of your food, and probiotic bacteria aid the enzymes in digestion and keep problems in check.

14.  Why are probiotic bacteria important for digestive health?

Colonies of bacteria in the intestine are called “microflora”. While a normal microflora is associated with good health, changes in intestinal health are associated with weakened immune function. An imbalance in the natural microflora is frequently associated with various disease states such as yeast infections and colon cancer.

Oral ingestion of probiotic bacteria helps support and modify the composition and metabolic activities of the large intestine microflora. Microflora of the large intestine assists digestion through fermentation (lowering the pH of the intestine, making it more acidic and inhospitable to invading species); protect against disease-causing bacteria, and stimulate the development of certain immune system components. Lactic acid bacteria have a central role in gut flora enabling them to influence the composition of the flora for health benefits.

Probiotic bacteria need to be ingested regularly for their health-promoting effects to persist. Probiotic bacteria also have been demonstrated to have anti-cancer properties.

Lactose is an important sugar that is converted to lactic acid by lactic acid bacteria. Lactose intolerance results from an inability to digest lactose, due to the failure of small intestine mucosal cells to produce lactase, an enzyme needed to digest lactose. Lactase deficiency causes people and animals to accumulate non-absorbed lactose in the gastrointestinal tract, which draws water and electrolytes into the gut and accelerates transit time, leading to bloating, cramping, diarrhea, and malabsorption of nutrients. Lactic acid bacteria have been shown to support the breakdown of lactose, specifically by enhancing the activity of lactase (beta galactosidase), which improves lactose digestion and tolerance.

15.  How often should probiotics be taken to ensure optimal support of the digestion system?

Although probiotic bacteria may survive passage through the stomach, they do not permanently colonize in the body and need to be replenished. Therefore, they need to be ingested regularly for their health-promoting effects to persist.

16.  Conclusion

The body is dependent upon nutrition. Every building block, every bone cell, even the sheen of the hair and skin, is the result of the food we eat. But what good does it do to select high-quality food if its nutrients are not fully absorbed? Enzymes that assure greater levels of digestion and absorption of your food, and probiotic bacteria that keep problems in check, can make a huge difference in one’s own health and in that of animals.

Part 3: Basic Information About Using Belta Probiotics

1. The Benefits

Belta Probiotics is a very high-quality probiotic product that improves the digestion of livestock and poultry, such as cows, buffaloes, chickens, sheep, and pigs, so that they absorb more protein, minerals, etc. Their weight increases noticeably more quickly than in animals not taking Belta Probiotics.

They become healthier and their immune system is strengthened so that they are much less liable to fall ill. The animals do not have to take medicine during the period the farmer is using the Probiotic. The farmer could test this by keeping aside some animals that are not given medicine.

If a herd or group of animals are ill, such as they have flu, Belta Probiotics will not cure them of their illness. It will help them to become stronger again because it will improve their digestion of proteins and minerals (and also of the medicine, if this has been mixed into their food). It will help their immune system to become stronger again. Belta Probiotics is useful in that it also helps to prevent the animals from getting ill in the first place.

Note: Please refer to the research document called “The Potential Benefits of Probiotics in Animal Production and Health” for a description of the benefits that farmers obtain from probiotics when used with animals. Users of Belta Probiotics can expect these benefits as well.

• Fish Farming Benefits: 

2. How to Use It

Belta Probiotics is a liquid. When mixing it with animal feed the easiest way is to pour out the animal feed onto a plastic sheet, spread it out thinly, and spray Belta Probiotics over the animal feed and then mix it all together with a spade or rake. If you cannot spray it, then pour it thinly over the animal feed that has been spread out already and then mix it all together.

Method 1 – Mix It with Animal Feed

Mix 5 cc with 1 kg of animal feed.

Mix 1 litre with about 300 kgs of animal feed.

Note: This is what many farmers like to do. They could mix the litre with 500 kgs. or even 1 MT of animal feed, but they like to mix it like this because it is very concentrated in this way and they like the results they get.  They don’t usually mix it with water because then the animals will have to consume all the animal feed within 24 hours.

Method 2 – Mix It with Drinking Water for the Animals

Mix 5 cc – 10 cc with 100 litres of water.

Method 3: How to Mix It with Animal Feed in a Factory

When the machine is making the granules it uses water. Mix Belta Probiotics with the water at the ratio of 1 litre per 1,000 litres so that the machine sprays water mixed with the probiotics onto the granules. The ratio for this is usually 1 litre per 5 MT of animal feed.

An animal feed factory could add a pellet-coating machine after the pelletization machine. Here is an example of a pellet-coating machine:

3. Amount Needed for 70,000 Animals the Size of Sheep, Cows, or Pigs

Each animal will need 1 x 500 cc bottle for its life (about 6 months).

For example, 70,000 animals = 70,000 x 500 cc bottles. Or 35,000 x 1 litre bottles.

500 cc Size: One 20-foot container holds 1,000 cases x 20 cc bottles = 20,000 bottles.

1 litre Size: One 20-foot container holds 612 cases x 20 bottles = 12,240 bottles.

4. Feeding Chickens

Method 1: Drinking Water Mixed with Belta Probiotics

Mix Bio-Plant 5 cc with 5 liters (5,000 cc) of water. This can feed 1,000 chickens per time. Feed them like this 3-4 times per day, about 3-4 hours apart. The same as a doctor gives you medicine to take 3 times per day.

Method 2: Belta Probiotics Mixed with Chicken Feed

Mix 5 cc with 1 kg of animal feed per day.

Question: Old chickens cannot finish 1 kg of feed in a day. Can I keep the remaining feed closed till the next two or three days after mixing with Belta Probiotics? If not, how many cc of Belta Probiotics can I mix for one chicken every day?

Answer: After making the mixture, use it to feed the chickens right away. You cannot keep it over a day. Make the mixture every time you feed the chickens. You cannot keep the feed after mixing. Make it for immediate use.

5. Questions Commonly Asked

5.1  If Belta Probiotics is used by mixing it in water, how long can we keep that water in the open air?

The farmer must use the water the same day.

5.2   Will the microbial activity in Belta Probiotics start when we put it in the water or will it start in the stomach of the animal?

When Belta Probiotics is mixed with water, the microbial activity will start to work at once.

5.3   Can we mix Belta Probiotics in water and then spray it on the feed?

Yes. The farmer can mix Belta Probiotics with animal feed in the same dosage of water quantity. For example, if you wish to mix 1 litre of Belta Probiotics with the animal feed, then mix the litre with 1 litre of water before applying it.

5.4 When can I start using Belta Probiotics with animals?

You can start to mix it with water or animal feed from when the animal is a baby.

5.5 Can I apply Belta Probiotics directly into the mouth without water? If so, how much?

In the event that there is no controlled farming and the cows graze in the open, you can apply Belta Probiotics directly into the mouth of the animal mixed with or without water.

If there is no water trough, the farmer should put 10 cc of Belta Probiotics straight into the mouth, with or without any water. This applies to large animals, such as cows and buffalos. Apply this amount at each feeding time.

In the case of smaller animals, such as goats and sheep, a farmer should put 5 cc (a teaspoon) of Belta Probiotics straight into the mouth, with or without water.

5.6 How long will it take to get the results from the animal using Belta Probiotics?

The results will start to appear as the digestion process improves, which will be quick. We cannot say exactly how long it will take, but the effects will soon appear in higher milk yield. We can only assure you that the difference will be seen.

5.7 Type of Feed: a) Fibre Feed b) Concentrated Feed

What kind of feed do you think the Belta Probiotics will work better?

It doesn’t matter which kind the farmer uses with Belta Probiotics. It is going to improve the digestion and absorption of minerals, protein, etc., and this will increase the rate of growth of the animals.

5.8 What will be the increase in the growth and weight of the animal, and in the milk yield?

Farmers often get 15% increase in weight. Belta Probiotics will increase the food intake and the amount digested. We can only say that the volume of milk will increase, but we cannot say how much. It varies between 5% and 15%. The increase will only take a few days to appear. Belta Probiotics will give the carcass a higher grade.

The probiotics divert hydrogen metabolism from methane production (which is tasteful of carbon) to acetogenins (production of acetate), which results in reduced methane emissions and an increased transfer of carbon from the animal’s feed into its growth.

5.9 Why are there much fewer flies that attack animals using Belta Probiotics?

It is caused by a change in the smell of the cows that results from the cows becoming healthier. Belta Probiotics improves the immune system and health of the cows. Also, the feces smell a lot less.

The probiotics inhibit harmful intestinal bacteria, primarily in the hindgut, which make the feces smell. The probiotic renders the intestinal environment less favourable for the growth of coliforms. As a result, the cows create much less of a smell, just like a person who is healthy does not give off a smell.

5.10 What are the kinds of test results that farmers get with Belta Probiotics?

In short, usually the weight increases about 15%, but sometimes more than this; the animals are healthier and do not seem to fall ill, which reduces medical bills; the milk yield increases; their feces are not smelly; the cows do not seem to give off a smell that attracts insects, and the carcass gets a higher grade. As a result, the farmer’s costs drop and revenue increases.
The percentage-increase depends on how long the animals have been using Belta Probiotics. The benefits become more noticeable the longer the animals use Belta Probiotics.

5.11 How much will the increase in growth rate be?

We do not want to over-claim. We have received different results from people trying out Belta Probiotics ranging from 10% – 25%. The lower percentage may be because some people are not using Belta Probiotics as often as they could.  20% is a common amount.

5.12 How can I use Belta Probiotics with crabs in a pond?

The basic guidelines below apply. If the ponds are reasonably small you might also like to mix Belta Probiotics with the pond water for extra effect regarding the growth rate and keeping the crabs free of disease.

Method 1 – Mix It with the Feed

Mix 5 cc with 1 kg of feed.
Mix 1 litre with about 300 kgs of feed.

Method 2 – Mix It with the Pond Water

Mix 5 cc – 10 cc with 100 litres of water.

* You can start to mix it with water or animal feed from when the crabs are very small.