Probiotics & Its Health Benefits

In this day and age, many of us are still unaware of the probiotic supplement that is being sold and provided across Malaysia. These probiotic supplements, mainly helps people to restore or improve their gut, or basically their tummy issues.

In Malaysia, it comes without surprise that many fellow Malaysians are going through emerging problems regarding their stomach. This is mainly caused by the type of food that we tend to eat and it ends up messing up our system that every once in a while, does need some cleansing. To explain in depth, probiotics are live microorganisms that carry a purpose intended to provide health benefits when consumed by people, generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.

Probiotics are mainly considered generally safe to be consumed, but may also cause bacteria host interactions and unwanted and unforeseen side effects in rarer cases. Probiotics are prominently live microorganisms that may be consumed mainly through fermented foods or supplements. More and more studies are showing that the balance or imbalance of bacteria in your digestive system is connected with your overall health and the disease that you may have. Probiotics are promoting a healthy balance of gut bacteria and have often been linked to a wide variety and range of health benefits. These include benefits for your weight loss, digestive health, immune function and also more.

This article will be an overview of the key health benefits linked to probiotics and how can the probiotics supplements help our bodies. Researchers are still trying to figure out how exactly do these probiotics work, but they do. Some of the ways they may keep you healthier and better. When you tend to lose good bacteria in your body, for example after you consume antibiotics, probiotics can help your body in replacing them. They can help balance your body balances both the good and the bad bacteria to keep your body functioning the way it should.



TYPES OF PROBIOTICS
You will need to realize that many types of bacteria are currently classified as probiotics. They all carry different benefits to your body, but most of them come from within two groups. Consult your doctor regarding which one might be the best to help you. Lactobacillus is the first one, this may be the most common type of probiotic. It is the one you will often find in the yogurt products and other types of fermented foods. Different types of strains can help you with diarrhea and may help the people who are not able to digest lactose, which is the sugar in milk.

Bifidobacterium is the second type. You can sometimes find it in certain dairy products. It may help you ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and some other types of conditions as well. Besides that, saccharomyces boulardii is a type of yeast found in probiotics. It appears to help your body fight against diarrhea and other sorts and types of digestive problems.

Now, we will be going over some of the benefits that your body can attain from the consumption of these probiotics.

1. HELPS YOU BALANCE THE FRIENDLY BACTERIA IN YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Probiotics mainly tends to include the good types of bacteria. These are live microorganisms that can help provide your body with health benefits if and when consumed. These benefits are thought to be the outcome from the ability of probiotics to restore and put back into place the natural balance of your gut bacteria. An imbalance means that there are too many bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria in your body. It may happen and be caused due to illness, medication such as antibiotics, keeping a poor diet and even more. The consequences of these are that they can include digestive issues, certain type of allergies, mental health problems, obesity and so on. This probiotics are most commonly found in fermented foods or else taken as supplements. Besides that, they tend to seem safe for the consumption of most people.

2. CAN HELP PREVENT & TREAT DIARRHEA
Probiotics are widely and commonly known for their abilities in the prevention of diarrhea or in order to reduce its severity. Diarrhea is a usual and common side effect of taking antibiotics. It can occur because the antibiotics can negatively affect the balance of both good and bad bacteria in the gut. Several studies have suggested that the use of probiotic is associated with a lessened risk of antibiotic associated diarrhea. In one of the studies, some researchers found out that taking probiotics had reduced antibiotic associated diarrhea by a whopping 42%. Probiotics may also help you with other forms of diarrhea which are not associated with the use of antibiotics.

A large review of 35 studies found certain strains of probiotics can help to lessen the length of infectious diarrhea by an average of 25 hours. Probiotics have also reduced the risk of having travelers’ diarrhea by 8%. They also lessened the chances and risk of diarrhea from different causes by 57% for children and 26% for adults. The effectiveness varies, depending on the type and the dose of the probiotic taken. Strains such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii are the ones most usually associated with a lowered risk of diarrhea.

3. IMPROVE SOME MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
An increasing number of studies linked your gut health to mood and mental health. Both animal as well as human studies have found that probiotic supplements can help improve certain mental health disorders. A review of 15 human studies have found that supplementing with Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains for about 1 to 2 months can help you improve anxiety, depression, autism, obsessive compulsive disorder as well as memory. One study also followed 70 chemical workers for roughly about 6 weeks.

Those who had consumed 100 grams of probiotic yogurt per day or took a daily probiotic capsule had experienced the benefits for general health, depression, anxiety and also stress. Benefits of probiotics were also seen in a study of 40 patients who had depression. Taking the probiotic supplements for about 8 weeks decreased their depression levels and reduced levels of C reactive protein which is a marker of inflammation and hormones such as insulin, in comparison to the people who did not take a probiotic.



4. MAY REDUCE THE SEVERITY OF CERTAIN ALLERGIES & ECZEMA
Certain types of probiotic strains may also reduce the severity of eczema in children and infants. One study has found that eczema symptoms were getting better for infants who were fed probiotic supplemented milk, compared to infants fed milk without the probiotics. Another study kept a track on children of women who took probiotics during pregnancy. Those children had a 83% lower risk of getting eczema in their first two years of life. However, the link between probiotics and reduced eczema severity is still bleak and more research needs to be conducted. Certain probiotics can also lessen inflammatory responses in people with milk or dairy allergies. However, the evidence is weak and more studies are needed.

5. MAY HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT & BELLY FAT
Probiotics can help you with losing weight through a variety of different mechanisms. For example, certain probiotics can help prevent the absorption of dietary fat in your intestine. The fat is then released through feces rather than being stored in the body. Probiotics can also help you feel fuller for longer period of time, burn more calories and store less fat. This is to some part caused by the increasing levels of certain hormones in your body, such as GLP-1. They can also help you with weight loss directly. In another study, dieting women who had Lactobacillus rhamnosus for 3 months lost 50% more weight in comparison to women who did not consume probiotic.

Another study of 210 people found that taking even lower doses of Lactobacillus gasseri for about 12 weeks resulted in an 8.5% reduction of their belly fat. However, it is crucial for you to be aware that not all the probiotics help in weight loss. Surprisingly, certain studies got some probiotics, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, which can actually lead to weight gain. More studies are needed to be clear and clarify the link between probiotics and weight loss or gain.

Finally, the benefits that the probiotics bring to you and your body are as prominent as they can be. This is something that is changing the way we look at certain food products as well as supplements. This is something new and rare which without a shadow of a doubt should be given a go.