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Some Amazing Benefits You Get From Probiotics

Probiotics are loaded with benefits that enhance overall health and wellness – so you may have heard some people say. It is not unusual to regularly come across their mentions in both print and electronic media. The common advice these days is to ensure you have them in sufficient amount in your body for excellent wellbeing. But what are probiotics? What benefits can you expect from them? These, and more, are the focus of this article.

About Probiotics

The term "probiotics" means something that promotes or is beneficial to life. It describes living bacteria that are present in the digestive tract. The word "bacteria" almost immediately strikes fear in the heart of many people when mentioned. But probiotics are the "good" bacteria that promote healthy living, as the meaning of their name suggests. It is said that the number of microorganisms surpasses that of cells in your entire body! Having beneficial making up the larger part of these can help keep numerous health issues at bay.

The awesome benefits probiotics offer clearly explains why they are present from birth. Experts say babies get the beneficial bacteria when in their mother's birth canal in the course of delivery. They then continue to multiply in the gut of the newborn to boost health.

Apart from the naturally occurring probiotics in the body, these can also be obtained from food sources. The problem these days is that most foods now offer lower amounts. This is not unconnected with modern methods of agriculture and food preservation. These reduce or kill off probiotics in most foods. It is for this reason that doctors also recommend that people take supplements to enjoy the benefits of the bacteria.

Types of probiotics

There are numerous variants of bacteria in the human body. Many of these are described as probiotics. The benefits you get depend on the particular bacteria that are involved. Majority of these helpful organisms fall into two main groups, namely:

Lactobacillus – Probiotics belonging to this group are probably the most popular. They are abundant in fermented foods, such as yogurt.

Bifidobacterium – This is the most plentiful in infants. The bacteria in the genus promote gastrointestinal health. You can also find these bacteria in dairy products.

How do probiotics work?

The mechanisms by which the beneficial bacteria help are not fully understood yet. But researchers believe that they assist in achieving a balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria. Increasing the amount of probiotics in the body can be beneficial in putting harmful organisms in the gut under control.

Experts in digestive health say probiotics should make up roughly 85 percent of the bacteria content in your gastrointestinal tract. Dysbiosis is the result in the absence of ideal balance between the good and bad bacteria. This exposes you to troubling medical conditions.

What Benefits do Probiotics Offer?

We have already mentioned how there is so much talk about the awesome benefits of probiotics these days. Is this just another of those gimmicks by supplement manufacturers to fleece you of your money? Well, that doesn’t appear to be the case here. While they can’t actually be described as miracle cures, research does show that they help in a wide variety of ways. Let’s consider some of the areas where you can find them beneficial.

Gut health and digestive function enhancement

Probiotics are helpful for enhancement of the health of your gut. In fact, this is a major reason they are able to improve your health in many ways. Research shows that they provide relief from symptoms of Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), including bloating and constipation. A study reported in John Hopkins Health Alerts showed that people who consumed food rich in probiotics had increased bowel movements and less bloating.

These good bacteria assist in breaking down the foods you eat for efficient absorption of nutrients available. They are especially helpful for digesting those foods high in carbohydrates. Probiotics promote vitamin and mineral absorption while also contributing to elimination of waste materials from the body.

Diarrhea Control

You can get help from probiotics in stopping diarrhea. This will sound appealing to you if you are someone that usually has this issue when using certain medications or when traveling. There is also research to back this benefit. A 2012 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that people who used probiotics with antibiotics had 42 percent lower risk of experiencing diarrhea from the antibiotics, compared to those who didn't include the bacteria.

Immunity Boost

This benefit is closely connected to how probiotics promote gut health. You may be surprised to learn that roughly 80 percent of your immune system is in your gastrointestinal tract. This obviously shows that your overall health depends largely on the state of your gut.

Your digestive track is part of the mucosal immune system, and a very important one at that. In the ideal situation, there is usually large amount of probiotics here. And the reason is clear: your gut is a collection point for food and other foreign antigens. These helpful bacteria are therefore needed to ensure no harmful substance is able to impair your health.

When you have them in the right amount, probiotics deprive harmful bacteria of food needed for survival. They compete with the bad microorganisms for attachment sites on the immune system's receptor sites in your gut. They usually succeed at this when there is right microbial balance. Promotion of healthy antigen response is another thing probiotics do. These effects can help greatly in preventing a variety of medical conditions.

Control of Respiratory Issues

There are certain individuals that are prone to having respiratory infections. They are down, almost immediately, when there is a change in weather. If you are one of such, you need to start getting more probiotics.

Evidence suggests that these good bacteria lower the risk of upper respiratory infections. Researchers observed in a Finnish study that children who were given milk with probiotics had 17 percent lower risk of respiratory infection, compared to those who were given only milk.

Healthy Skin

You can also get help from probiotics in enhancing the look and health of your skin. This is more likely to interest you if you are beginning to see some unpleasant changes in this regard, maybe due to aging. However, mothers and their babies appear to need probiotics the most for enhancing skin health.

It is believed that skin issues are an indication of inefficient immune function, which occurs from delayed development in infants. This was somewhat confirmed in a study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that showed increasing probiotics levels in allergy-prone mothers before birth can reduce the risk of their children having eczema.

Weight Control

If you are someone battling overweight issues, you may want to look towards probiotics. There appears to be greater awareness of this fact by those in the weight loss circle as well.

Research shows that your weight depends to an extent on certain bacteria in your gut. Perhaps, most notable of these is bifidobacteria. It was shown in a study that infants who had higher numbers of these beneficial bacteria were at lower risk of problematic weight gain in the future.

More and more studies are beginning to support how probiotics may help keep your bodyweight in check. In one of such, consumption of beverage enriched with probiotics for a period of 12 weeks helped to reduce visceral fat in some obese subjects.

Researchers have also observed that pregnant women can control weight gain with these bacteria. Those who took probiotic supplements in a study, starting from the first trimester of their pregnancy until the end of breastfeeding, were able to shed weight more easily.

Baby Cry Prevention

Many will agree that there aren't many things as annoying as having a crying baby that will not be pacified around. But then, some issues that you may not easily be able to figure out may be responsible for such cries. An example is severe abdominal pain. Probiotics can help when this is the underlying reason for your baby crying.

This benefit was given credence by a study that appeared in the journal Pediatrics in 2007. Some breastfeeding mothers were given probiotic supplements for four weeks. The researchers then observed that the babies of the women cried 194 minutes less than those of mothers who didn't get probiotics.

Mental Health Support

Probiotics are also believed to support psychological and emotional health. This again has connection to the health of your gastrointestinal tract. The enteric nervous system, the second largest in your neurological system, can be found here. This is why this semi-autonomous part of your nervous system is sometimes called "the second brain" or "the brain in the gut."

The central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the enteric nervous system are made of similar tissue. Information sharing between the two passes via the vagus nerve. Probiotics enhance this communication. What this means is that issues surrounding your psychological and emotional health can in fact be the result of problem in your gut.

Another thing that may surprise you is that the greater amount of serotonin in your body is said to come from your gut, not your brain. Isn't that surprising? This neurotransmitter helps to regulate your mood. It is believed to promote good feeling and restful sleep while also helping to fight anxiety and depression.

Now, the foregoing are not all the benefits there are to probiotics. There are several others, including treatment of colitis, liver diseases and kidney stones.

Where You Can Get Probiotics

As already noted, these good bacteria exist naturally in your gut. One important thing you can do to enjoy their benefits is to ensure you provide them food to survive on. High quality, fermentable fiber are said to provide probiotics perfect fuel needed to thrive. You can get this from foods such as flaxseeds, chia seeds and sweet potatoes.

Foods that have sour taste, such as apple cider vinegar and fermented vegetables, are also known to offer these bacteria. Besides containing probiotics, sour foods help to promote pH balance that is favorable for these beneficial microorganisms to function. They contain useful acids such as acetic acid and gluconic acid.

Some of the top foods you should consider consuming to increase probiotic levels include:

• Kimchi
• Sauerkraut
• Kefir
• Natto
• Kvass
• Live-cultured yogurt
• Raw cheese

Certain foods that contain little or no probiotics are also enriched with them in some cases.

Using Probiotic Supplements

If the kinds of foods that offer probiotics do not appeal to you, there is the option of taking supplements. You only need to be cautious with the selection you make when these are concerned.

Make sure whatever product you go for has the right strains of bacteria that are known to deliver the benefits you have in sight. It may be better to pick a supplement that offers 10 or more different strains.

The higher the colony forming units (CFUs) of an offering, the better. Look out for supplements that are said to be made with live and active culture. You also want to search around for information on the best brands offering this kind of products. Caution is important when selecting a product because there are numerous ineffective offerings out there.

Things to Avoid for Probiotics to Thrive

For probiotics to work efficiently, there are certain things you need to avoid as much as possible. There is little to be gained from these bacteria if you do not control for these factors. They include stressors, certain substances, toxins and certain foods. These create room for bad bacteria to thrive in the gut.

Notable examples of these probiotics "killers" include:

• Antibiotics
• Sugary or processed foods
• Chlorinated or fluoridated water
• Heartburn medications
• Genetically modified organism (GMO) foods
• Emotional stress

All these factors can reduce the amount of probiotics. They kill those already in your gut as well as the ones in the foods or supplement you take. So you should work to avoid or prevent them as much as possible. If you consider them unavoidable, you can reduce issues by increasing your intake of probiotics.

Are Probiotics Safe?

It is obvious that these bacteria are your friends. So, there is really not any great reason to worry much about them. But you may experience mild side effects, such as bloating, diarrhea and upset stomach, at the beginning of use. These are usually temporary and are more likely when you take them in excessively large amounts.

You now have more reasons to consider increasing the amount of probiotics in your gut. We have to say, though, that it is important not to take things to the extreme, as regard intake. Foods offer the best way of getting them. You also have the option of using supplements. But you need to be cautious when using these products since manufacturers do not need to prove to the FDA that they work or are safe. It is a good idea to speak with your doctor before using any supplement.

REFERENCES

www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/what-are-probiotics#1
https://draxe.com/probiotics-benefits-foods-supplements/
www.healthline.com/health/probiotics-and-digestive-health/suprising-benefits-probiotics
probiotics.mercola.com/probiotics-health-benefits.html