About Cobiotics™
NuMe’s cobiotic™ health products are based on the growing recognition that the composition of the large bacterial populations resident in the human GI tract can have a significant impact on health. Our cobiotic products include prebiotics and other proprietary ingredients that are derived from natural bioactive ingredients in edible plants that increase the proportion of beneficial bacteria in the GI tract by promoting the growth of specific bacteria while inhibiting undesirable bacteria. NuMe’s cobiotics also help create a healthy microbiota environment in the GI tract. The resulting shift in the bacterial population residing in the modified environment is intended to positively affect prediabetes and the ability to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. NuMe’s cobiotic products will be supported with human clinical data demonstrating their ability to modify GI bacterial populations and improve biomarkers associated with prediabetes. Unlike probiotics, which simply attempt to add certain bacteria to the gut to improve GI health, the prebiotics in NuMe’s cobiotic products work by providing the nutrition that the beneficial GI bacteria need to grow and thrive. Since the huge number of bacteria in the normal GI tract can overwhelm the relatively small amounts of bacteria contained in probiotic supplements, many researchers believe that prebiotics may have a more significant and lasting impact on health.
About the Microbiome
Legendary Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg was an early popularizer of the term "microbiome" to describe the totality of microbes, their genomes and their interactions in a defined environment, such as the human GI tract. During the past five years, the Human Microbiome Project, a large effort sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has been applying a variety of advanced sequencing and other scientific tools to characterize the microbes living in and on our bodies. The estimated 100 trillion microorganisms residing in the large intestine play an essential role in metabolizing food, drugs, and dietary supplements not absorbed by the upper GI tract. New research is rapidly increasing our understanding of the ways in which the activities of these microbial populations can have a major impact on human metabolic, immune signaling, regulatory and behavioral systems.
The GI Microbiota: A Tale of Two Phyla
More than 95% of our gastrointestinal microbiota belongs to two major groups: Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes. Bacteriodetes are Gram negative bacteria that harbor genes enabling them to metabolize carbohydrates present in their ecosystem. This metabolism can yield benefits for their human "hosts", including inhibiting colonization of potentially harmful microorganisms, increasing the absorption of minerals such as calcium and moderating appetite by either stimulating satiety hormones or inhibiting appetite hormones. Firmicutes are Gram positive bacteria that metabolize protein and fat present in their environment. They appear to increase the efficiency of calorie absorption after ingestion of these nutrients, thereby effectively increasing the caloric value of these foods.