13 Health Benefits of Probiotics

As strange as it may sound, probiotics are actually living microorganisms that humans can ingest, through food or drink, and which will then help the body to be healthier. So, what exactly are the health benefits of probiotics?

Gut

Probiotics work by promoting a healthy balance of the bacteria within the gut, which, if out of balance, can cause all sorts of painful or nasty illnesses. The gut bacteria can become out of balance for a number of reasons including illness, poor diet, and medications such as antibiotics. This can lead to digestive issues, allergies, obesity, and even mental health problems. IBS is another illness that can occur if the bacteria in your gut is out of balance, but you can buy probiotic supplements through this website that can help you. Keeping your gut healthy is important for many reasons – it is your ‘second brain’ because it is where 100 million neurotransmitters are, and it’s the only part of the body (apart from the brain itself) that has its own nervous system. The phrase ‘trust your gut’ is something we should all take to heart.

Diarrhea

At best, diarrhea is a painful, embarrassing, and annoying problem. At worst, it can cause serious dehydration and mean that you have to go to hospital – in some cases, without the right treatment, it can be fatal. Antibiotics can often cause diarrhea, as can many illnesses. Using probiotics has been shown to reduce the symptoms of diarrhea.

Mental Health

Probiotics are no substitute for professional help when it comes to mental health issues, but they can alleviate some symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, and stress for a short while. Studies showed that benefits were felt after taking probiotics for eight weeks. Probiotics might even be able to improve memory!

Women’s Health

Probiotics are important for everyone’s health, but women especially can benefit from taking capsules of ingesting them in food or drink. The wrong balance of good and bad bacteria can cause yeast infections in women, but probiotics that restore the balance to correct any disparity. This is particularly useful for pregnant women, who are susceptible to vaginal yeast infections, and bacterial vaginosis which is another issue that can occur when the bacteria is unbalanced, and can even trigger an early labor. So, taking probiotics throughout pregnancy is something that many women choose to do.

Heart

Probiotics can lower bad cholesterol and blood pressure, and that is of great benefit to the health of the heart. Bile can cause cholesterol issues. Bile is made mostly of cholesterol that aids digestion, but too much of it means that it’s reabsorbed into the body, and that leads to high cholesterol levels (and high blood pressure). Probiotics can help to stop the cholesterol from being reabsorbed, then your levels will automatically be lower.

Allergies and Eczema

Studies have shown that certain types of eczema symptoms in children and babies can be somewhat reduced by taking probiotics. It won’t solve the problem entirely, but it can make things a lot more comfortable for the child – and that’s obviously important. More research is being carried out on this subject, as infant eczema is a problem that many children suffer from. It doesn’t always lead to eczema as an adult, but it can do, and this can be severely debilitating. Anything that goes towards finding out more about what causes eczema, and how to reduce or cure the symptoms, is a great thing. Probiotics can also help with acne and keeps your skin healthier in general.

Immune System

It’s possible that probiotics can help to boost your immune system, and completely inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut. Probiotics have been shown in research to promote the production of natural antibodies, and that can reduce how likely it is that you’ll get respiratory infections.

Obesity

Again, more studies on probiotics suggest that probiotics can help you to lose weight, particularly helping with stubborn belly fat. This works because they can help prevent the absorption of dietary fat. Instead of being absorbed into the body, it is excreted. That means it can’t harm you. As well as this, research shows that taking probiotics can make you feel fuller for longer, so you won’t snack between meals. You can also burn more calories, and, as mentioned, store less fat in the body.

Metabolism

In many cases, how your metabolism works is determined before your birth through DNA and genes, and family traits. However, taking probiotics can help to increase your metabolism’s function because it can activate inactive thyroid cells. This can also help with weight loss.

Nasal Passages

Bacteria lines in your gut, and it also lines your nasal passages. Keeping the good bacteria in place within your nasal passages and removing the bad bacteria will reduce inflammation there, giving you clearer sinuses and reducing the risk of infection.

Teeth

Your mouth is part of your digestive tract and is in fact where digestion begins. Keeping the healthy bacteria in your mouth happy will improve digestion, making it quicker and easier when it gets to your stomach. This will also keep your teeth healthier as the acids and sugars from foods will get broken down more quickly. Finally, as a (big) bonus, it will keep your breath smelling better too!

Diabetes

As with the other serious diseases and issues on this list, probiotics are not a cure for diabetes. However, making sure that your intestines are in good shape has been shown in some studies to improve insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and maintain body weight – all of which can aid in the symptoms of diabetes.

After Effects of Chemotherapy

Cancer is a terrible thing, and if using chemotherapy is going to help you, it’s important to do it. However, chemo has its own set of nasty side effects that can make you feel utterly sick. Taking probiotics can reduce these side effects, and by limiting them you won’t feel the impact of the treatment quite so bad.