A Gut Feeling: How Probiotics Improve Gut and Overall Health
Probiotics are live microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeast, that are shown to improve not only your gut health but other facets of health too. We often associate germs, like bacteria, as harmful or a cause of illness, but in fact our bodies require bacteria for proper immune system development, with 30–50 trillion bacterial cells on the average individual! Probiotics act as “good” or beneficial agents to promote healthy gut function, while assisting in disease prevention and improving our overall health. Probiotics are commonly found in fermented milk products such as kefir or yogurts, but they can also be administered through the use of supplements.
Your Gut Microbiome and Probiotics
Each individual has their own unique intestinal flora, or microbial community, called a microbiome. Researchers are discovering our microbiomes play an important role in the prevention of diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, malnutrition, inflammatory bowel diseases, protection against pathogens and certain types of cancers. However, when taking antibiotics this micro-community can become disrupted with some of the beneficial “good” microbes killed in the process, leaving the gut vulnerable to new invaders. Probiotics can be used to supply the gut with active live cultures that can replenish the colonies of the gut, restoring its function. In a study by Nord et. al., a multi-strain probiotic was used to treat patients suffering from C.difficile — a serious gastrointestinal infection usually following antibiotic usage — and found that the probiotic strains rapidly recolonized the gut, reducing the amount of C.difficile by making an environment incompatible for C.difficile survival.
How Do Probiotics Work?
Potential mechanisms for how probiotics function is that the beneficial cultures can competitively exclude “bad” bacteria from residing in the gut by occupying all the available space and resources, or through directly producing anti-microbial agents that can ward off disease-causing pathogens. Additionally, probiotics fine-tune the intestinal immune system response, which may have a role in preventing or alleviating allergies that don’t currently have any conventional treatments.
Additional Benefits of Probiotics
So, just how important are probiotics to our health? Studies have linked the consumption of probiotics to a range of health benefits that are effective in lowering cholesterol, enhancing proper immune system functioning, improving inflammatory conditions, protecting against diarrheal diseases (e.g. traveller’s diarrhea, antibiotic-associated diarrhea) and respiratory tract infections, as well as having anti-cancer effects. Evidently, probiotics offer a wide range of health benefits and disease prevention outside of simply improving gastrointestinal wellness.
What’s the Take Away?
The condition of your gut micro-community is crucial in influencing many aspects of your health. Probiotics provide an easy-to-use method for developing a flourishing intestinal flora, which in turn can directly improve gut functioning, prevent diseases and improve your overall quality of health.
References:
https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044579X17301463
http://sjkdl.ir/up/uploads/146376232925481.pdf#page=425
https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/docview/851428474?pq-origsite=gscholar
