6 times probiotics can improve your health

THEY’RE marketed as the big fix for your gut health issues, and probiotics live up to their name, and more. Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body, which help to keep your digestive system healthy.

According to the Mayo Clinic, probiotics are usually made of specific strains of bacteria that directly add to the population of healthy microbes in your gut.

You can take probiotics through both food and supplements — the most popular of which is yoghurt. Other foods with probiotics include certain cheeses, olives, kimchi, and buttermilk which can introduce living vital probiotics into the digestive system.

There’s also the option of probiotic supplements which also contain live organisms, which you can get in capsule form in your local pharmacy. A single dose may include a particular strain of microbe or blend of microbes, usually Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, two of the most commonly used species of bacteria.

When do you need probiotics?

Yeast infections

After taking a long course of antibiotics, your bacterial flora can be altered, which can cause an overgrowth of fungus which leads to issues like yeast infections. Probiotics can help you regulate. This is best achieved by having plain, unsweetened yoghurt. There are some yoghurts enriched with probiotics; however, in general, plain yoghurt is fine.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

This is a condition involving the gut that is caused by disorders in the movement of food through the gut. Common symptoms include abdominal pain or cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhoea or constipation or alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhoea, or mucus or slimy ‘cold’ in the stool. Eliminating wheat and dairy products can provide relief in some people, and using probiotics as the bacteria in these products can help to stabilise the gut flora.

Loose stool

Diarrhoea can throw the microbes in your gut off balance, and probiotics may help get things back on track.

Constipation

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at King’s College in London found that, on average, probiotics slowed “gut transit time” by 12.4 hours, increased the number of weekly bowel movements by 1.3, and helped soften stools, making them easier to pass. Probiotics that contained Bifidobacterium appeared to be the most effective.

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

In another study, Probiotics for prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections in women , the researchers investigated the use of probiotics, especially Lactobacilli, which has been considered for the prevention of UTIs.

“Since Lactobacilli dominate the urogenital flora of healthy premenopausal women, it has been suggested that restoration of the urogenital flora, which is dominated by uropathogens, with Lactobacilli may protect against UTIs,” the authors noted. They found that probiotics can be beneficial for preventing recurrent UTIs in women and they also have a good safety profile.

Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes

Taking probiotics during pregnancy reduced the risk of gestational diabetes for two-thirds of women studied, according to a New Zealand study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Researchers from the University of Otago in Wellington studied the impact of the probiotic Lactobacillus Rhamnosus HN001, which is used to produce fermented milk products such as yoghurt, on the risk of gestational diabetes. The study found that 6.5 per cent of women who were administered a placebo contracted gestational diabetes, as opposed to 2.1 per cent of expectant mothers who were given the probiotic, which amounts to a 68 per cent reduction in risk.

“We found that the protective effects were stronger amongst older women and amongst women who had previously had gestational diabetes,” explained study leader Dr Julian Crane.

The researchers discovered that the probiotic interacted with microbiota and significantly lowered blood glucose levels among pregnant women.