What Are Probiotics

What are probiotics?

Probiotics are a type of organism that can help boost the amount of beneficial bacteria in your gut. These organisms are live bacteria that line the digestive tract and support your body’s ability to absorb nutrients and fight infection. Nestled inside your gut are trillions of these live microorganisms that make up the microbiome.

Probiotics are a worthwhile addition to your daily regimen because of their benefits in improving everything from immune system function to decreasing risk of disease. Other than supplements, probiotics are found in fermented foods (like sauerkraut, tempeh, and miso), as well as drinks like kombucha.

70% of our immune system is located within the digestive tract, therefore having a strong immune system depends greatly on a healthy gut microbiome by boosting the amount of beneficial bacteria.

In fact, are you aware we have about the same number of molecules of gut bacteria in our bodies as human cells? With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the health of your gut is so important to overall health!

When it comes to health, bacteria are often thought to be harmful, but the bacteria in probiotics actually help our bodies function more optimally.

So what are the benefits of taking a probiotic? The benefits are numerous, but some areas where probiotics have been proven to be effective are: improving digestive health, supporting immunity, reducing inflammation, management of inflammatory bowel disease, and maintenance of healthy skin.

The healthy bacteria in our gut is also responsible for:

• Production of Vitamin B12, butyrate, and Vitamin K2
• Central nervous system regulation
• Production of enzymes that destroy harmful bacteria
• Support of immune function by stimulating production of IgA and T cells
• Prevent invasion of pathogens by strengthening gut mucosa barrier

The introduction of probiotics to our system starts from the time we are born. During the delivery process, the infant is exposed to live bacteria in the birth canal, which then stimulates production in the gastrointestinal tract as the child develops.

Historically, maintaining a healthy gut microbiome was less difficult through consumption of foods that were produced via more natural processes and preserving foods by fermentation. However, with the development of sanitation practices, such as chlorination, and refrigeration to help prolong the life of foods, the effect has been less availability of probiotics in our diets.

Therefore, supplementation with probiotics has become an essential practice to maintaining health and wellness.

With that in mind, you may be wondering how to incorporate probiotic supplementation into your daily health regimen. There are several factors to consider such as type, stability, strain diversity, and CFU count.

The three main types are: Bifidobacteria, lactobacillus, and saccharomyces. These specific strains have been studied thoroughly and proved to be effective in improving immunity, digestive health, as well as other areas. They are also widely available in foods and other products. When deciding what to take there are several factors to consider:

• High CFU count-The dosage of probiotics is measured in “colony forming units” or CFUs. Children taking probiotics should aim for 5 billion to 10 billion CFUs per day, whereas adults need 10 billion-20 billion CFUs.
• Survivability and strain diversity-In order to maximize the benefits of taking a probiotic and ensure they survive transport to the gut and are able to colonize, you may want to consider strains such as: Bacillus coagulans, saccharomyces boulardii, bacillus subtilis, lactobacillus planarum, or bacillus clausii.
• Stability-Some probiotics need to be refrigerated to maintain potency, but when consumed lose their stability, so look for a shelf-stable product.
• Living vs. dead-when looking at a label it may say something along the lines of “made with active cultures” in contrast to products that contain “live and active cultures.” The difference is the former is heat-treated following the fermentation process which kills off good and bad bacteria.