You’ve almost definitely heard of probiotics — the ‘friendly bacteria’ that is found in yogurts, kefir and certain supplements. And you’ve probably also heard that there are lots of health benefits to eating products with probiotics in them.
In this article, we’ll be diving into the benefits of probiotics for gut health.
What do probiotics do?
Probiotics are living microorganisms — friendly bacteria — that, when consumed, can have a range of health benefits for us.
This is because probiotics mix with the bacteria already in our gut (a combination of mostly good bacteria, and some harmful bacteria) to help balance our gut bacteria. Gut health and the bacteria that live in the gut can have a surprising range of knock-on effects on the rest of our health.
You can find out more about probiotics in our main probiotics guide, which covers what probiotics are and the different types.
The benefits of probiotics
There are thought to be many different probiotics benefits and all sorts of reasons why people take probiotics.
One of the main possible health benefits of probiotics is that they help to balance the bacteria in your digestive system and improve gut health.
Probiotics for gut health
The main reason that people use probiotic supplements is because of the potential benefits they can have on your gut. In fact, lots of people use probiotics for gut health because they can balance the bacteria in your digestive system.
Living in your gut is a complex community of microorganisms, known as the gut microbiome or gut flora. These microorganisms (bacteria) are responsible for various health functions, such as helping your body digest food, producing important fatty acids for the gut, and helping to feed and strengthen your gut wall.
Most of these bacteria are good, but some of the bacteria can have a negative impact on your health if there is overgrowth, causing an imbalance of the gut microbiome. This may cause digestive problems and diarrhea. It can also lead to illness and infections.
Taking probiotics — which are good bacteria — can help the balance of bacteria in your gut and allows the good bacteria in your gut to carry on with their important work.
BOOST OPTIMUM contains 550 million cfu Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, a probiotic, that helps in the normal function of digestive system.
BOOST OPTIMUM is a delicious adult nutritional supplement that contains high quality protein, Probiotics and Prebiotics, Vitamins and Minerals to address nutritional needs of adults. BOOST OPTIMUM may help improve your nutritional status and physical performance when combined with physical exercise in as early as 6 weeks*.
*P. Abizanda et al. / JAMDA 16 (2015) 439.e9-439.e16. The ACTIVNES Study
