Who needs a Probiotic?

Probiotics are the helpful and healing bacteria that live in our bodies. Every human has several pounds of bacteria that aids in everything from digestion to beating infections. At the same time, many people have bad gut flora due to unhealthy and overly processed foods, ailments or other conditions that decrease the number of quality of your gut flora. You can improve this by taking probiotic supplements, but who really needs them? It depends on your symptoms and overall lifestyle.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are good for killing infections, but they are terrible for gut flora. This is why about 30 percent of patients suffer from diarrhea and other digestive problems. Not only that, but these antibiotics can also decrease your immune system's effectiveness.

You should consider taking probiotics both during and after a round of antibiotics. This will help you feel better, and it can decrease the likelihood of you suffering from diarrhea.

Digestive Health

If you have overall digestive problems, then you might want to consider probiotics. For example, studies have shown that the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, irregular diarrhea and constipation are much easier to deal with and treat if you are taking a probiotic supplement.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that probiotics are responsible for digesting food. If you have a good number of efficient probiotics, then it will be much easier for you to digest food without uncomfortable symptoms. The other reason, which is a relatively new theory, is that good bacteria keep bad ones from attaching to the lining of the stomach.

The stomach lining has millions of spots for bacteria to attach to. This is usually so that the good bacteria has somewhere to stay as food is being digested. If the good flora disappears, then this allows the bad bacteria to take its place. By taking a probiotic supplement, you can avoid this problem.

Urinary Health

There is compelling research showing that probiotics can help with urinary health. If you commonly suffer from urinary tract infections, then a supplement might be beneficial. Just like in the stomach, there are areas in the urinary tract where bacteria attach to. Having good bacteria ensures that the bad ones don't have a place to attach to in your urinary tract.

Another reason is because good bacteria can help break down and purify whatever you digest. This makes it much easier to urinate without any problems. It also greatly reduces the likelihood of infections occurring in this area of the body.

Poor Immunity

Those with poor immunity can benefit greatly from probiotics. This is good for both adults and pregnant women. Adults that took probiotics found that their immune system quickly improved. Pregnant women who take probiotics have children with a 50 percent lower chance of developing allergies.

Probiotics are able to stimulate the immune system. If you are an adult, this is done by increasing the production of lymphocytes. Scientists use these markers to see if the immune system is working. They help improve the immune system of unborn babies and small children by causing a small inflammatory response. This gives the immune system something to fight, which improves its ability to fight infections and reduces the likelihood of allergies.

Obesity

Researchers aren't entirely sure why this happens, but it has been shown that probiotics can help people that are overweight. For example, men and women who undergo a weight-loss regimen or surgery tend to successfully keep the weight off if they add probiotics to their diet.

Pregnant women also seem to have a much easier time losing the extra abdominal fat if they take a probiotic supplement. Some scientists think that this is because good gut flora aids in digestion, while others believe that probiotics help people recognize when they are full. Regardless of the reason, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that probiotics can help if you are obese or overweight.

Conclusion

Probiotics are good for everyone, but some people need them more than others. If you have digestive, urinary, weight or immune system problems, then probiotics can help reduce these conditions to make life much easier to live. You can get probiotics from capsules, yogurt and other sources.