Your gut contains a variety of bacteria, which help you absorb nutrients and fight infection. But when this ecosystem becomes out of balance, it can lead to digestive issues, allergies, and mental health problems. Probiotics can restore this healthy balance, thereby promoting overall well-being. But if you want to use probiotics as part of your health regimen, it’s essential to understand how they work.
Supports Immune Function
A healthy gut bacteria helps your immune system fight infection and inflammatory disease. In addition, it also nourishes your gastrointestinal tract and keeps it healthy and functioning. The bacteria in your intestines are known as the microbiome and outnumber human cells in your body 10 to one. A healthy microbiome is essential for your overall health and well-being. A healthy microbiome can prevent and treat digestive problems, yeast infections, oral disease, food allergies, and eczema. Probiotics from foods or supplements promote beneficial gut bacteria that help you stay healthy and fight off infection. The question is, what are probiotics? In addition, probiotics may help your gut bacteria stay healthy after antibiotic treatment. This is especially true if you have an immune condition resistant to antibiotics, such as cystic fibrosis or irritable bowel syndrome.
Helps Fight Inflammation
The bacteria in your gut are essential for maintaining a healthy body and helping fight disease. They help to digest food, produce vitamins and fend off pathogens that cause illness. Studies have shown that probiotics can help to reduce inflammation in the gut, where 80 percent of the immune system lives. Chronic inflammation contributes to many diseases and health conditions, including asthma, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, depression, and gastrointestinal disorders. Research has also found that probiotics can improve the composition of the gut microbiome. This effect may be due to their ability to reduce the number of inflammatory cytokines and increase mucus secretion, thereby increasing host immune protection against infection. The impact of probiotic intake on gut microbiota composition could be confounded by diet, age, BMI (body mass index), medications, and stress.
Supports Digestion
Probiotics, also known as good bacteria, live naturally in your body and are essential for a healthy gut. They help digest food, fend off disease, and even make vitamins. To support digestion, eat plenty of fiber-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. These foods contain multiple strains of beneficial bacteria. They are most helpful when taken in supplement form and can also be found in fermented foods. Limit your intake of processed and fried foods, alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated beverages. Besides eating the right kinds of foods, drinking lots of water can help keep your gut microbiome in balance. Sleeping, staying active, and practicing stress reduction can also benefit your gut health. A probiotic might be the next step if your digestive symptoms worsen after making lifestyle changes. But don’t rush into it if your symptoms don’t improve with other treatments, as many chronic conditions require more comprehensive approaches before they resolve.
Supports Weight Loss
Probiotics support weight loss by reducing calorie intake and increasing satiety hormones like leptin. They also reduce inflammation, a significant contributor to obesity and metabolic syndrome. You’ll want to pick a product that contains high-quality strains of bacteria. Some of the most common include Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, which can help with appetite regulation and satiety. Another significant benefit of probiotics is that they boost your immune system and keep you feeling healthy. This can make you more energetic and less prone to colds, cases of flu, and other illnesses. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are both associated with low-grade inflammation, and research shows that probiotics may be able to lower these levels. This can reduce triglycerides, and C-reactive protein, and improve insulin resistance. While studies have found that certain probiotics can help you lose weight, they also show that they are often used in conjunction with a healthier diet and regular exercise. A diet with more fruits, veggies, and whole grains is a good start.
Supports Mental Health
The gut plays a significant role in the central nervous system (CNS), so your mental health needs healthy gut bacteria. Probiotics support this by regulating neurotransmitters and hormones involved in the gut-brain axis.
For example, probiotics reduce stress levels and cortisol production by acting on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (HPA), which links the brain and these glands via a feedback loop through the HPA-secreting cells in the gut. This helps regulate your mental health and prevents the onset of psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. A healthy gut microbiome also boosts mood-lifting chemicals like serotonin and GABA. The microbial strains in the gut influence the production of these chemicals by sending information to your brain through your vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve in your body. For example, a study of Alzheimer’s patients found that drinking milk with four different probiotic bacteria species improved cognitive function and reduced depressive symptoms. But it took several weeks for the new composition of their intestinal flora to stabilize.