Probiotics are tiny things, but their impact is big. Knowing the large role probiotics play in gut health is essential. So, we’re here to help.
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are tiny organisms that have beneficial effects.
You’ll find lots of probiotics in a healthy gut – as well as many other tiny organisms called microorganisms, or microbes. You want your gut to host a rich diversity of microbes. This community of gut microbes (called the gut microbiota) can have an immense impact on your body’s health.
What do probiotics do in the body?
Probiotics are helpful. They support gut health in a variety of ways, including:
- Keep the balance: Helps keep unwanted microbes at bay.
- Support defenses: Assists the intestinal barrier, a key part of your body’s natural defense system.
- Aid digestion: Help with vitamin absorption, and breakdown certain nutrients that otherwise can trigger gas, bloating, or diarrhea.
Why does your gut love probiotics?
You can think of your gut microbiota as a beautiful, sprawling garden. There are many different species living there, and with the right mix, the garden can flourish to be a healthy ecosystem.
Similarly, with the right mix of probiotics the gut could flourish. A diversity of helpful probiotics in the gut microbiota supports gut health. A healthy gut is key to overall wellness.
But, if the garden isn’t nourished or tended to, some of the plants can die, leaving spaces where weeds can start to grow. If left unattended, weeds can start to take over the garden, and it is no longer healthy and beautiful.
Like a garden, without the right nourishment (fibre-rich plants), or when antibiotics are used, the mix of microbes in the gut can shift. An unhealthy balance of microbes in the gut is called dysbiosis.
What is dysbiosis?
Dysbiosis is when there’s an imbalance in the gut microbiota. Without the right balance of microbes your gut function is hindered, and you can struggle with symptoms of an unhappy gut. If thinking of your gut as a garden, dysbiosis would be when you get behind on weeding – your garden’s beautiful flowers are competing to thrive against a growing number of quick growing weeds.
Luckily, you can fix an imbalance! Studies show a healthy diet rich in fibre and/or probiotic supplementation can help.
What are the benefits of taking probiotics?
Taking probiotics can promote a more favorable flora, and when your inner garden is flourishing, the benefits can ripple throughout your body.
There are many benefits to taking probiotics including:
- Support gut health
- Enhance the diversity of the gut flora (microbiota)
- Less gas/bloating
- Regularity in bowel movements
Why is a healthy gut important?
A healthy gut is important to overall wellness. Here are a few ways the gut plays a role in your overall health:
1. Nutrition: A healthy gut can do a better job of digesting and absorbing nutrients. That means more of the valuable nutrients in the food you eat can get absorbed and nourish your skin, hair, nails, joints, muscles, and more.
2. Barrier: A healthy gut has a strong barrier that ensures only the things you swallowed that are helpful get absorbed. The gut barrier is host to many immune cells to help you stay protected.
3. And Beyond: There are many ways the gut is connected to other systems in the body:
- The immune cells in the gut lining are connected to the immune system.
- Special cells in the gut produce hormones that help you know when you’re hungry.
- Nerves connect the gut to the brain, allowing them to communicate with each other about everything from when it’s time to eat to have a bowel movement. Even when you’re sleepy or stressed, this gut-brain connection allows them to influence each other.
With the many connections between the gut and the rest of your body, it’s easy to see how important gut health is to achieving overall wellness.
Are probiotics safe for everyone?
Probiotics are generally considered safe for a healthy individual (age 1+) according to Health Canada. However, do not use a probiotic supplement if you have an immuno-compromised condition (e.g. AIDS, lymphoma, patients undergoing long-term corticosteroid treatment) or are taking tetracycline or kanamycin. Consult a health care practitioner prior to use if you have fever, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea or severe abdominal pain. Stop use and consult a health care practitioner if symptoms of digestive upset (e.g. diarrhea) occur, worsen and/or persists beyond 3 days.
Do probiotics work?
Yes. According to Health Canada, probiotics support gut health. Probiotics are approved as medicinal ingredients in natural health products in Canada that could promote favourable gut flora.
Over 1,600 clinical studies with probiotics have been conducted.
Can I get probiotics from food?
Yes, fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi and kombucha, are made using various types of bacteria. The health benefits of fermented foods have not been confirmed.
How should I take probiotics?
Probiotics are available as supplements in a variety of formats that include caplet and gummies. Caplet help certain probiotics stay viable longer, ensuring they can offer optimal health benefit. Gummies can offer different types of probiotics in a chewable format.
How long does it take for probiotics to work?
Probiotic supplements provide your gut with clinically proven microbes that typically can take two to three weeks, or more, to offer noticeable effects. To maintain the health benefits of probiotics, daily use is recommended.
What are clinically studied probiotics?
These are probiotic strains that have been researched in a clinical study and shown to offer a health benefit. The advantage to clinically studied strains is confidence in its effectiveness.
How much probiotics should I take?
Probiotics are measured by CFUs (colony forming units). A CFU tells you how many tiny microbes (live probiotic cultures) in the supplement can create a helpful little colony in the gut.
In general, a dosage of 1 billion colony forming units (CFU), or more is suggested by Health Canada.
How many probiotic strains should I take?
There are lots of different strains (types) of probiotics. Each strain of probiotic offers health benefits, but each strain offers slightly different benefits.
Similarly, each flower in your garden is beautiful, but different than the next. Having a variety of flowers in your garden creates a healthy ecosystem. In the gut, having a diverse variety of probiotic strains supports gut health.
Which probiotic should I take?
It’s in your nature to thrive - Nature’s Bounty Probiotics are just here to supplement you. There are many probiotic supplements available from Nature’s Bounty to choose from:
Nature’s Bounty Extra Strength Acidophilus Probiotic : Convenient caplet containing 2 billion CFUs of L. acidophilus. Acidophilus is short for Lactobacillus acidophilus, a probiotic that plays an important role in gut health. First discovered in the human gut by scientists in 1900, Lactobacillus acidophilius has been studied for over a century for its functions in human health.
Nature’s Bounty Probiotic Gummies: Delicious, chewable gummies that contain a clinically studied probiotic strain. Each gummy contains 2 billion CFUs of Bacillus coagulans (IS-2) and vitamin D3 which help support gastrointestinal health and helps maintain immune function.
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