Stig Bengmark has passed away
The creator of Synbiotic, Professor Stig Bengmark, from Lomma, passed away on December 2, 2023, at the age of 94.
Stig was an inspirer and advocate in health and a pioneer in research on lactic acid bacteria. He helped thousands of people get healthy through his blog, lectures, books, and dietary supplements. His vision was always to help people achieve better health.
Stig Bengmark was born on April 10, 1929, in Östervåla near Uppsala. In 1956, he graduated as a doctor from Lund University. Stig was the chief surgeon and clinic manager at the University Hospital in Lund between 1970-1994. In 1971, Stig became a professor at Lund University, a position he held until 1994 when he became Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine in Lund. In 1999-2000, Stig also served as honorary visiting professor at University College in London.
During his time as a surgeon, Stig became one of the pioneers of extensive abdominal surgery, specializing in the major organs, the liver, and pancreas. It was then that he realized the importance of gut flora for patients’ recovery after surgery.
After retiring as a surgeon, Stig chose to continue expanding his knowledge about chronic diseases and their causes. Through his research, Stig found that there was a clear link between chronic diseases and the condition of dysbiosis, characterized by a significant reduction in the diversity of beneficial bacterial species in the intestine.
Driven to improve people’s gut health, Stig started a research project in 1999 with some colleagues. The goal was to find an elite of good gut bacteria that enhance each other’s properties and have an anti-inflammatory effect. Together, they studied over 500 different lactic acid bacteria, and the project resulted in four unique strains of lactic acid bacteria being selected and patented.
The bacteria were combined with four different types of dietary fibers that proved to help the bacteria’s ability to reproduce in the intestine. Stig named his composition of good bacteria (probiotics) and dietary fibers (prebiotics) Synbiotic2000, a preparation that in subsequent years achieved outstanding results in numerous studies.
For over 20 years, studies with Synbiotic2000 were conducted all over the world. Time and again, the synbiotic proved successful in building up the gut flora, improving the immune system, and reducing inflammation markers in sick people. Even today, research is being conducted with Stig’s unique preparation.
After many years of clinical studies with Synbiotic2000, Stig felt confident enough about its effectiveness that he now wanted to make the composition available to healthy people and those with minor problems. Therefore, he founded the company Super Synbiotics AB in 2016, together with several health advocates.
Throughout his career, Stig was determined that we humans can influence and choose our health. Through his research on the role of gut flora in health, Stig discovered the connections between dietary habits, chronic inflammation, and diseases. For many years, Stig published columns in newspapers and on his blog. He was a frequent lecturer on anti-inflammatory diets and how gut flora affects health. He consistently filled auditoriums both in Sweden and abroad where he shared his knowledge.
In 2018, Stig published the book Välj Hälsa!’ [English title: Anti-Inflammatory Diet Solution] with collected advice on an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, later followed by ‘Välj Hälsa! The Recipe Book’ co-authored with his wife Marianne Bengmark. Both books quickly became bestsellers and have been appreciated by many readers.
Stig will be greatly missed and warmly remembered. He will always continue to inspire us to work towards making good gut health accessible to everyone. The mission for SuperSynbiotics from Stig was always clear – ‘Spread the knowledge of health.’
We will continue to do so.
/ Ludvig Ekelund, CEO of SuperSynbiotics AB, along with editorial staff