The Wonderful World of Probiotics for your Health

cereals on the table

When someone speaks of health or advocates healthy living, aside from exercising, we always give focus on eating. Health-minded people always give importance to what they put in their body, which is, of course, logical because we get unhealthy through what we eat and it’s just right that we get healthy with it. However, these people differ in opinion and researchers or experts promote their own healthy living depending on their studies.

It’s so diverse that we can safely say that every era, there are new found ways of what our food combination must be in order to achieve the best results. Remember the Zone Diet of the mid-90s? How about the Beverly Hills Diet or Scarsdale Diet of the 80s era? Now in our time, we have tons of diet available like Keto, DASH, Flexitarian, Nordic, etc.

Probiotics are like a common language to those who are into healthy living, with all these different diets, this is one ingredient that is hard to remove from the equation of health, together with fruits and veggies and amino acids. Even bodybuilders take their dose of probiotics as it is known to help reduce muscle damage and improve muscle recovery.

What is Probiotics?

We stereotyped the word bacteria by thinking that it’s filthy and unhealthy but not probiotics. These are bacteria and yeast that is good for us, especially when it comes to our digestive system. Yes, though our body is full of good and bad bacteria, probiotics mainly help our gut to keep it healthy.

What are the Benefits of this Good Bacteria?

woman with a flat belly

  • Treats diarrhea or irritable bowel movement
  • Helps in balancing good and bad bacteria in your body for it to function as it should
  • Replace good bacteria due to antibiotics or other antibacterial medicines intake
  • Improve tolerance to lactose with those with lactose-intolerance
  • Enhance immune functions

Types of Probiotics

1)    Bifidobacterium – Helps in easing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) found in most dairy products

2)    Saccharomyces Boulardii – Helps ease diarrhea and other digestive issues. To clarify, this is a type of yeast found in probiotics

3)    Lactobacillus – One of the most common probiotics that are found in many dairy products and fermented foods

Is Probiotics Safe?

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We always encourage our readers to consult doctors for any diet change or upgrade to prevent any health issues to occur. In general, probiotics don’t cause any harm. There are mild side effects like upset stomach, gas, and bloating, to some it may cause diarrhea too but those reports came from the first week of its consummation. Keep in mind that probiotics are FDA regulated but it’s not regulated like medicines so still, tread with caution. There are also reports of probiotics triggering food allergic reaction so if you have this condition, it’s better to have your doctors go signal before trying it out.

Studies are still being conducted regarding our gut bacteria, though scientists are trying to figure out how probiotics exactly work, we can say it is like giving our body’s good bacteria a reinforcement in fending off the bad bacteria that wanted to dominate our gut. Let’s be real and accept that we abuse our own body, especially our digestive system, more than anything else and a dose of good bacteria to help keep it running the way it should be is not a bad idea.

References:

Web MD

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-are-probiotics#1

Health Harvard

https://www.health.harvard.edu/vitamins-and-supplements/health-benefits-of-taking-probiotics

NCBI

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30425779

Very Well Health

https://www.verywellhealth.com/probiotics-and-allergy-prevention-1324508

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