We’ve written plenty of blogs about different ways that probiotics can help to keep you healthy, but most of them have been deeper dives into specific conditions or promising new studies. So this time, let’s zoom out a bit. Let’s talk about how probiotics can help to keep you healthy and some of the most common reasons people take them.
As we’ve talked about in previous blogs and videos, bacteria can be good or bad. Bad bacteria can lead to health problems. Many of these are minor issues, like bloating or diarrhea, but they can also lead to more serious health conditions, like rotavirus and tuberculosis. Good bacteria are called probiotics. Probiotics can provide a wide number of health benefits, like aiding in digestion, strengthening the immune system, and maintaining an ideal ratio of good to bad bacteria.
That last point is the most important for understanding how probiotics help to keep you healthy. Through a process called competitive adhesion, probiotics flush bad bacteria and other pathogens out of the gut. When molds and bad bacteria are passing through the gut, they must latch onto cells in the intestines before they are able to cause any harm. If they can’t find anything to latch on to, they’ll just pass on through and out of the body. Probiotic bacteria latch onto these cells so that the bad bacteria have nowhere to attach. In a healthy gut, most of the intestinal cells will have healthy bacteria attached to them. This means that there are significantly fewer cells left for bad bacteria to grab onto before they’re swept out of the gut.
Of course, probiotics are also helpful for combating specific health conditions, several of which you can find over on our conditions page. Probiotics have been shown to be one of the best options for dealing with colic in infants. They can help with constipation by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and reducing the frequency of diarrhea in those taking antibiotics. Probiotics are proven to be effective in reducing allergies and can even reduce the effects of asthma due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Some probiotic strains can also be particularly beneficial for women that struggle with UTIs or yeast infections.
While many probiotic benefits are targeted at specific health issues, they can provide many other general health benefits even for individuals that do not suffer from major health conditions. For instance, some probiotics are able to enhance the bioavailability of nutrients. This means that your body can absorb a higher percentage of nutrients from food when ingested. There have been studies showing that some probiotics could be used in weight management due to their ability to prevent body weight gain and slow fat accumulation. Some studies suggest that probiotics could be used to help manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the body. Other studies suggest that certain strains can improve resistance against influenza infections. Probiotics have even been found to help combat anxiety, increase insulin levels, and reduce fatigue in athletes.
Even with all of the examples we’ve laid out here, this still barely scratches the surface of the ways probiotics can help to keep you healthy, but it does a good job of showing why your body needs good bacteria. A good probiotic supplement like Probonix is a great way to make sure your body is getting the good bacteria it needs to keep itself healthy.
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