What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are the live microorganisms living in our gut to aid digestive health, support immune function and boost metabolism. Therefore, you must maintain proper probiotic health to reap many benefits for your body.
The two common probiotics known for supporting immune and digestive health are lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. While lactobacilli live in the small intestine, bifidobacteria is present in the large intestine.
How Do Probiotics Work?
Researchers are still looking for various mechanisms of how probiotics work. In terms of gut health, probiotics can prevent harmful bacteria from thriving in your gut microbiome. The large community of microorganisms that reside in your digestive system helps promote the growth of healthy bacteria.
Meanwhile, certain probiotics release antimicrobial proteins and peptides to combat opportunistic bacteria living in your gut.
We don’t fall sick often even after consuming bad bacteria because the good bacteria inside us fight with bad bacteria. Some probiotics even send signals to the gut cells for producing mucus for acting as a barrier against any infection.
On the other hand, some probiotics modulate how long it may take for food to move through the gut. Moreover, they help in food digestion by releasing metabolites.
Benefits of Probiotics
Probiotics have many benefits on our health conditions and are possibly known to prevent others.
Here are some common probiotic health benefits that are linked to probiotic consumption:
- It can improve Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms
- Helps prevent travellers’ diarrhoea
- Improves ulcerative colitis
- Improves immune function
- Prevents upper respiratory infections
How to Ingest Probiotics
The two common ways to ingest probiotics are by taking probiotic supplements and eating certain foods that are rich in good bacteria. However, you need to consult your physician or dietician before consuming certain foods, as different probiotic strains may have a distinct impact on your body.
So, you have to ensure that the supplement or food you plan on consuming has the right things for addressing certain health concerns.
Probiotic-Rich Foods
Various fermented foods like yoghurt, kimchi, kefir, kombucha and cultured non-dairy yoghurts are known to have probiotics. So, you need to include these food items in your diet to improve good bacteria growth in your gut.
Another thing about consuming probiotics in foods is not only getting the microbes. You are also getting beneficial by-products that further help produce microbes and other healthy nutrients.
Probiotic Supplements
Probiotic supplements don’t even need approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for selling and marketing. However, the manufacturers are not allowed to claim certain health benefits. But mostly the probiotic supplements are on the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) list. It means that these are safe to consume for a healthy diet.
If you plan on buying probiotic supplements, you must buy probiotics that boast the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) label on their bottle. The USP verification mark gives you assurance the list of ingredients included in a bottle is accurate and good for human consumption. This mark also verifies that the given supplements don’t contain any harmful contaminants.
For more information on probiotics and their supplements, you must consult a physician or do thorough research online.
Are Probiotics Safe?
Yes, probiotics are generally safe. However, if you’re immunocompromised, you must not take them until you’re advised by your physician. For, the live microorganisms are hard to process or harmful to people with the immunocompromised system.
Even if you are healthy, consuming probiotics in excess may have certain side effects. At first, some people may experience gas and bloating. But these symptoms often subside after some days. Therefore, you should consult your dietitian or nutritionist before consuming any probiotics.
Also, Visit here: The Best Foods you can Eat to Boost your Immune System
