Probiotics

Health Benefits of Probiotics

Maintaining a balanced and healthy gut environment by consuming probiotics on a regular basis is beneficial. Below are the main health benefits of probiotics.

Gastrointestinal & Digestive System

Maintaining healthy bacteria in your guts are helpful in the treatment of diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome.  Probiotics help replenish beneficial bacteria in your gut, replacing the harmful ones, hence creating a more balanced environment in one’s gastrointestinal tract for healthy digestion.

Lactose intolerance is a common dietary condition that prevents us from consuming dairy products, due to the body’s inability to break down lactose, which often results in diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and flatulence.  With the use of probiotics that contains the right bacterial enzymes, the metabolism of lactose can significantly improve.

Examples of beneficial strains: L. reuteri, L. rhamnosus, L. casei, L. acidophilus, B. bifidum, S. thermophilus, L. delbrueckii, ssp. Bulgaricus, S. boulardii (yeast)

Skin Improvement

Skin is a reflection of your overall health and is closely linked to the health of your gastrointestinal system.  When you have a healthier gut flora, there is less toxins in your body, and hence your skin also appears healthier.  It is also helpful in skin related issues due to stress, depression, and anxiety. Probiotic use has also helped reduce occurrences of eczema, rosacea, and has anti-aging properties.

However, regular consumption of probiotics over a period of time (ie. 4-12 weeks) is required to truly see the effects and improvement. 

Examples of beneficial strains: Lactobacfillus, L. acidophilus, B bifudum

Food Allergies

The use of probiotics has been studied and has shown to be effective in treating and preventing food allergies.  Some of the food allergic reactions include vomiting, reflux, abdominal pain, dysphagia, and diarrhea.

For individuals with dairy hypersensitivity (although less severe than food allergies), the use of probiotics has also shown a reduction of symptoms.  

Example of beneficial strains: L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri, Bifidobacteria spp, L. casei, L. acidophilus, B. coagulans

Vaginal and Urinary Infections Prevention

Probiotics help maintain a balanced bacterial flora.  Particularly the Lactobacilli strain, it makes the genital environment too acidic for harmful bacteria to survive.  Things such as antibiotics, spermicides, and birth controls can throw the bacterial flora off balance, causing bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections, and urinary tract infections.  There are both oral and vaginal methods for the usage of probiotics for such treatments.

Examples of beneficial strains: L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri

Other Health Benefits

Other health benefits of probiotics use include improvement of immune system response, reduction of cholesterol and blood pressure, cancer prevention, chronic fatigue syndrome.  

Food and Supplements

Food products containing probiotics include dairy products such as fermented milk, cheese, and yogurt, and non-dairy products such as nutritional bars, cereals, and supplemented juices.  Other prepared probiotics food products include kimchi (a fermented vegetable containing lactic acid bacteria), sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), miso, pickles, and kombucha (a drink containing beneficial bacteria and yeast that helps prevent candida yeast infection).

References:

[1] Harvard Health Publishing. “Health Benefits of Taking Priobiotics.” (2018) https://www.health.harvard.edu/vitamins-and-supplements/health-benefits-of-taking-probiotics

[2] Kechagia, M. et al. “Health Benefits of Priobiotics: A review.” (2013)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4045285/

[3] Allen, M. “The benefits of Probiotics, According to the Experts.” (2019)

https://www.mydomaine.com/benefits-of-probiotics

[4] Nierenberg, C. “Probiotics Hold Promise for 4 Skin Conditions.” (2014)

https://www.livescience.com/46502-probiotics-hold-promise-skin-conditions.html

[5] Tan-Lim, C., and Esteban-Ipac, N. “Probiotics as treatment for food allergies among pediatric patients: a meta-analysis.” (2018) 

https://waojournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40413-018-0204-5

[6] Patil, K. “15 Amazing Benefits of Probiotics” (2019).

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/health-benefits-of-probiotics.html

[7] Cirino, E. “Probiotics for Vaginal Health: Do They Work?” (2019). https://www.healthline.com/health/vaginal-health/probiotic-vaginal-health#good-probiotic-strains