[Second Post] Nutrition 101: Why are Probiotics a must for healthy lifestyle ?

in #health7 years ago (edited)

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Probiotics

Probiotics are live microbial nutritional supplements. The most commonly known are lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria used in the production of yoghurt and other dairy foods.

These organisms are not pathogenic and non-toxic, preserve their vitality during storage and survive passing through the stomach and small intestine.

Probiotics can be used to prevent diarrhea and improve the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Based on summarized literature, the three most useful and most commonly used probiotics are:

Lactobacillus acidophilus;
Bifidobacterium bifidum;
Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Useful actions of probiotics

  1. Improves the digestibility of dairy products and other proteins. This is important if we want to achieve serious muscle growth after intensive workouts in the gym.
  2. They stimulate the absorption of lactose in people who can not absorb it.
  3. They help complete digestion and suppress the excessive reproduction of "bad", disease-causing microorganisms in the digestive system.
  4. They suppress the stuttering processes in the stomach and intestines.
  5. Prevent the lack of B group vitamins.
  6. They keep the body healthy while taking antibiotics and other chemicals.
  7. They restore normal intestinal microflora, impaired by antibiotic intake.
  8. Prevent and treat diarrhea, including infectious.
  9. Reduce the risk of stomach diseases.
  10. They limit the appearance of vaginal yeast infections, urinary tract infections and cystitis.
  11. Stimulate the immune response. Studies have shown that the consumption of yoghurt that contains specific Lactobacillus species or Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium supplements can stimulate the normal immune response.
  12. They help treat respiratory infections such as sinusitis, bronchitis and pneumonia.
  13. They reduce the risk of allergies - asthma, food allergies from milk and skin reactions such as eczema.
  14. They help to lower high levels of "bad" cholesterol.
  15. Reduce the risk of bladder and colon cancer.

Probiotics are available as supplements in the following forms:

Freeze-dried powders that are recommended to use dissolved in filtered water and taken on an empty stomach. Cold water activates bacteria. Probiotic powders begin to work in the mouth before going down into the digestive system.
The amount of specific type of bacteria among many of these in different advertised products should be controlled. They may contain very little of the desired bacteria.
Capsules containing certain species are preferred to powders due to the fact that they are dissolved in a specific location.
Liquids - contain the most inappropriate form of bacterial supplements. They are fit for 2 weeks after manufacture. They provide very little beneficial effect

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Thank you for the post. There is some good information here, however, we need to be careful not to be too general. There are new developments that enable some forms of probiotics to be stable in beverages and other applications and these should not be ignored or dismissed as their is really good science to support them. There is also capsule within a capsule technology that also ensures they get to where they need to go to be the most effective.

A couple of other points:
Many formulas claiming billions of CFU are overkill - we don't need that much.
Multi species formulas also often do not work as species can compete for survival in the gut.