Probiotics are a common term that is used by all. For the unversed, you may have a few questions about probiotics and how it works. Below are few of the queries and the responses that may help to decode it better.
What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body. Bacteria are usually viewed in a negative light as something that makes you sick. However, you have two kinds of bacteria constantly in and on your body – good bacteria and bad bacteria.
For a microbe to be called a probiotic, it must have several characteristics. These include being able to:
- Be isolated from a human.
- Survive in your intestine after ingestion (being eaten).
- Have a proven benefit to you.
- Be safely consumed.
Where do beneficial probiotics (microbes) live in my body?
Though the most common place linked to beneficial microbes is your gut (mostly large intestines), you have several locations in and on your body that host good microbes. These locations are in contact with the “outside world” and include your:
- Gut.
- Mouth.
- Vagina.
- Urinary tract.
- Skin.
- Lungs.
How do probiotics work?
The main job of probiotics, or good bacteria, is to maintain a healthy balance in your body. Think of it as keeping your body in a neutral state. When you are sick, bad bacteria enters your body and increases in number. This knocks your body out of balance. Good bacteria work to fight off the bad bacteria and restore the balance within your body, making you feel better.
Good bacteria keep you healthy by supporting your immune function and controlling inflammation. Certain types of good bacteria can also:
- Help your body digest food.
- Keep bad bacteria from getting out of control and making you sick.
- Create vitamins.
- Help support the cells that line your gut to prevent bad bacteria that you may have consumed (through food or drinks) from entering your blood.
- Breakdown and absorb medications.
This balancing act is naturally happening in your body all the time. You don’t actually need to take probiotic supplements to make it happen. Good bacteria are just a natural part of your body. Eating a well-balanced diet rich in fibre every day helps to keep the number of good bacteria at proper levels.
What are the most common types of probiotic bacteria?
Though there are many types of bacteria that can be considered probiotics, there are two specific types of bacteria that are common probiotics found in stores. These include:
- Lactobacillus.
- Bifidobacterium.
Probiotics are also made up of good yeast. The most common type of yeast found in probiotics is:
- Saccharomyces boulardii.
Can I use probiotics to help with medical conditions?
There is currently a large amount of research studies going on around the idea of what probiotics can do for your body. Even though there are a lot of possibly positive outcomes, researchers are still working to find definitive answers about how probiotics can help with various conditions.
However, there are some medical conditions where probiotics have been known to help. This can vary for different people, meaning that what works for one person may not work for another. These can also vary based on the certain type of probiotic that is taken.
Some of the conditions that might be helped by increasing the number of probiotics in your body (through food or supplements) include:
- Diarrhoea either due to antibiotics or infection
- Constipation.
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Yeast infections.
- Urinary tract infections.
- Gum disease.
- Lactose intolerance.
- Eczema
- Upper respiratory infections
- Sepsis (specifically in infants).
Can I take or eat something to increase the good probiotics (microbes) in my body?
You can increase the number of good microbes in your body through foods, drinks and supplements. You may already have certain foods in your daily diet that contain probiotics. Fermented foods in particular (yogurt and pickles, for example) are home to a host of good bacteria that benefit your body. There are also fermented drinks like kombucha (fermented tea) or kefir (fermented dairy drink) that introduce extra probiotics into your diet.