Probiotics & Health

For centuries, cultures have searched for ways to promote natural health and healing, and for centuries they have continued to use probiotics for this purpose. Your body is filled with all kinds of bacteria, and not all of them are bad. Yeast, bacilli, and other microorganisms help regulate many of our functions and keep us healthy. Maintaining proper levels of these bacteria, called probiotics, can support optimum health.

The benefits of including probiotics in your health plan, whether through consuming probiotic-rich foods or through supplementation, have been studied for years. The use of probiotics as a health aid have been so thoroughly studied and documented that many health care providers often recommend the use of probiotics, especially in conjunction with antibiotics to offset some of their side effects.

Aside from balancing out natural bacteria levels, probiotics contribute to your health by aiding in digestion. Regulation of digestion is important to a healthy body, and probiotics can not only make digestion easier and more effective, but also help manage digestive conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.

In addition to irritable bowel and other intestinal conditions, a link has been established between a reduction in stress and the use of probiotic medicinals. Certain lactobacilli and bifidobacteria have been shown to play a role in alleviating the stress, anxiety, and other neuropathological disorders associated with parasitic infestations of the intestines.

Probiotics also have been used to some effect in the treatment of diarrhea related to rotavirus in toddlers. Rotavirus is an insidious parasitic disease that causes nausea, vomiting, and extreme intestinal discomfort. Although most children are inoculated against the most common forms of rotavirus in the wake of a recently approved vaccine, the disease is always evolving and children (and their parents) still may contract milder forms of the virus. This is where supplementation of probiotics may help, although it should not be considered a replacement for professional medical care.

If you would like more information on how probiotics affect health, their benefits and side effects, and how they can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle, please continue reading our informative health articles or contact your health care provider.