Probiotics are composed of healthy live bacteria or yeasts that naturally exist in the body. As humans, we continuously have both beneficial and harmful bacteria in our bodies.
When an infection enters, extra harmful bacteria knock your system out of balance. Good bacteria help to reduce excess harmful bacteria, restoring the balance. Probiotic supplements are an excellent means to add beneficial bacteria to your body.
Probiotics are a mixture of helpful live bacteria and yeasts that are present in our bodies. Unfortunately, bacteria are viewed negatively by the public (1). Most people think they are responsible for causing sickness; however, the reality is we have two types of bacteria always in our bodies.
Probiotics are composed of beneficial bacteria that support our body to keep it strong and operating efficiently. These good bacteria benefit us in several ways, including combating harmful bacteria, especially when we have excess, and they keep us feeling healthy.
Probiotics provide several health benefits, but it’s best to keep in mind they are only a small part of a much bigger picture concerning your microbiome. The best way to imagine your microbiome is to view it as a dense forest with millions of organisms living together. In a forest, those organisms are animals and plants, but in your microbiome, they are referred to as “microbes.”
The microbes are composed of a mixture of fungi, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa; we literally have trillions in our bodies. The amazing thing about our bodies is that every person’s microbiome is unique; none of us have identical microbiomes.
When referring to a probiotic, it must include certain qualities; these are:
- Must be detached from an individual being
- After being consumed must continue to live in your intestines after ingestion
- Must be able to have a demonstrated advantage/benefit
- Must be harmlessly absorbed
Where Do These Good Probiotics Live?
Generally, the most common area these microbes live in is our gut or, more specifically, our large intestines. Apart from living here, there are several other places where good bacteria live, and these areas have direct contact with the external world. Some of these are our gut, mouth, skin, and lungs.
Probiotics And How They Work
The principal role of probiotics, or beneficial bacteria, is preserving the body’s healthy and robust equilibrium. An excellent way to think about it is like a car in neutral. When we are sick, the harmful bacteria in the body dramatically increase. This increase creates a precarious balance in the body.
The good bacteria play an essential role in boosting the function of our immune system and managing inflammation. Some of the positive health benefits good bacteria provide are:
- Helping the body to digest food
- It helps prevent harmful bacteria from rapidly reproducing, making us sick.
- They produce vitamins
- Help preserve the cells which line our gut and help to block harmful bacteria from penetrating into our bloodstream
- Helps to absorb medicines while at the same time breaking them down
What’s impressive is this balancing act is occurring 24/7 within our bodies without us even realizing it. The body naturally fights off bad bacteria; however, supplementing with a good probiotic can help give it a good boost.
Consuming balanced foods daily that are abundant in fiber aids the number of beneficial bacteria at individual levels.
Several Types Of Bacteria
Several kinds of bacteria can be viewed as probiotics; however, two specific types of bacterial probiotics are commonly seen in shops. These are:
- Lactobacillus
- Bifidobacterium
Apart from being composed of bacteria, probiotics are also made of healthy yeast (2). The most well-known kind of yeast seen in probiotics is:
- Saccharomyces boulardii
Can Probiotics Help With Certain Disease
There is currently a substantial quantity of research occurring, encompassing the idea of what probiotics actually do for the body. Although there are many possible beneficial results, researchers are continually striving to obtain authoritative answers on how exactly probiotics assist with different conditions.
Nevertheless, probiotics play a vital role in some situations where they are recognized as supporting healthy bodily function (3). This can differ among people, suggesting no one universal method or system works for everyone. These methods can also change depending on the specific probiotic that is used.
Below are a few conditions that might be improved by raising the number of probiotics in your body:
- Diarrhea and Constipation
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Yeast Infections
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Gum Disease
- Lactose Intolerance
- Eczema
Can I Increase My Good Probiotics?
One of the easiest ways to incorporate more beneficial probiotics into your diet is through food and supplementation. Without knowing it, you may already be eating foods that contain high amounts of good probiotics. Pickles, yogurt, and kimchi are fermented foods that provide many good bacteria that help the body.
Recently, super greens powders and fermented drinks such as kombucha and kefir have seen an upsurge in popularity due to their probiotic benefits.
Besides consuming food and drink, supplements are an excellent way to get the extra probiotics your body needs. Probiotics are not categorized as drugs and, as such, do not need to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (4)
However, as with any supplement, it’s always recommended to consult with your doctor or local health care provider before making any significant adjustment to your diet.
Greens Powders And Probiotics
Probiotic supplements contain helpful live bacteria that are typically obtainable in tablets, capsules, or liquid form. Other dietary wellness supplements such as super greens powders can have probiotics added in their formula to support metabolism and promote better gut health.
While certain probiotics are common and readily available, they may vary in the strain of bacteria and intensity levels. However, many supplements do not come with fiber sources to serve as nutrients for these bacteria, so it is prudent to ensure you are absorbing both.
Probiotic supplements are intended to transmit particular strains of bacteria to the human gut. When the appropriate strains of probiotics are utilized, they can be remarkably helpful for those who may be deficient.
Due to probiotics being live bacteria, they demand specific environmental requirements for survival.
Probiotics have a relatively short life, and because their storage conditions are fragile, the specific probiotic you’re purchasing may not be as effective or as potent as it’s marketed to be. If you’re searching for nutritional health supplements, why not consider supplements that are more powerful, efficient, and offer value-for-money, like SuperGreen Tonik.
Certain probiotic strains are delicate and require protection from high temperatures, oxygen, light, and moisture. If probiotics are accidentally exposed to the elements, they may degrade or decay at an extremely rapid rate.
Some specific strains of probiotics require refrigeration for storage; keeping them appropriately stored ensures the probiotic retains its effectiveness.
The effectiveness of adding probiotics to additional supplementation like greens powders is still up in the air. Many manufacturers do not add probiotics to their powders due to the lack of conclusive evidence of how they interact with other compounds and elements in the product formula.
Are Probiotics Safe?
Microbes that are utilized in probiotics are naturally found in the human body and are generally considered safe. As with any supplementation, there’s always a chance of side effects.
Probiotics may trigger allergic reactions and cause mild stomach aches, diarrhea, and bloating for the first few days after commencing consumption.
Certain people should proceed with discretion when utilizing probiotic supplements. There’s a chance of contamination in some people like:
- Those who have an impaired immune system
- Those are suffering from critical illness
- Those who have recently undergone surgery
Caution should also be used when supplying probiotics to sick children; Be sure to consult with your doctor or local healthcare provider before commencing probiotic supplementation.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about adding probiotics to your diet, it’s definitely worth a conversation with your local healthcare provider. The majority of nutritionists and dieticians generally recommend trying probiotics due to the numerous health benefits they provide.
It is essential to recognize that not all probiotics function the same way and have identical effects. Individual-specific probiotics offer their own benefits. They commonly do not cause harm. One effective way to start is by merely adding probiotic-rich meals into your daily nutritional plan.
Consuming a well-balanced nutritional intake, including probiotics, may help guarantee that you have a stable balance of vital gut bacteria to promote a robust immune system.
Possibly the most reliable way to ensure that you are reaching your regular probiotic requirements is through a healthy diet.
Maintaining a robust and well-balanced diet does much more than benefit your microbiome. It also guarantees you absorb all the vitamins and minerals needed to live a long and healthy life.
