Author : Dr. PD GUPTA
Former Director Grade Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
www.daylifenews.in
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are live microorganisms (microbes) that can have beneficial effects on or inside our body. Every human body is home to trillions of microorganisms that live with us and help support our body functions and health. Not all of the microbes we may carry are beneficial to us ; some types (germs) can be harmful also. But beneficial microbes, like probiotics, help to control the potentially harmful types and cure many diseases without causing side effects.
Probiotic products contain select, beneficial types of microbes to add to the populations already living in our body. Many probiotics are oral supplements designed to be ingested into our gastrointestinal tract (intestine). Others are topical products that you can apply to your skin or to the mucous membrane inside our body cavities, like our nose or genitals. These are all places where beneficial microbes commonly live.
What do probiotics do?
Probiotics are food and health products that contribute live, beneficial microbes to the populations within our gut and elsewhere, in order to strengthen those microbes. They’re meant to prevent and treat dysbiosis — an imbalance or a deficit of beneficial microbes in our microbe reserves. When they work, the microbes take up residence on or in our body, adding to the populations already living there.
Not all probiotics are alike, though. Different types of microbes function differently within our body, so different types might be better or worse for our condition. Probiotics also aren’t regulated by the FDA, so manufacturers don’t have to prove the quality or even the contents of their products. It’s a good idea to consult a knowledgeable person about which probiotics might work best for our needs.
When are probiotics recom mended?
If we have symptoms of dysbiosis, in our digestive system or elsewhere, our healthcare provider might recommend probiotics to help bring your microbiome back to balance. If you’ve recently had an illness or treatment that weakened your microbiome, your provider might suggest probiotics to help rebuild it. For example, they might suggest taking or using probiotics after finishing a course of antibiotics.
Some people take a daily probiotic supplement to maintain their general wellness. You might want to do this if you’re prone to gut health issues and you notice it helps. A healthy gut microbiome can boost our overall immunity, reduce inflammation and help keep our bowels regular.
Everyday things like stress and food choices can diminish your gut microbiome, and probiotics are one way to help restore it.
Which probiotics are effective?
For a probiotic to have any benefit to our health, it must:
Be of a variety that has proven benefits for your body.
Be in a form that’s safe to consume or apply to our body.
Contain viable microbes that have survived the commercial process.
Be able to survive the journey through our digestive tract (if it’s an oral probiotic).
Some of the most frequently studied and recommended probiotics include:
The Lactobacillus genus, including L acidophilus., L. rhamnosus, L. casei and L. plantarum.
The Bifidobacterium genus, including Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium breve.
Acidophilus (L. acidophilus) may be the most well-known probiotic on the market today, possibly because it has so many different applications. Acidophilus is found naturally in your mouth, gut, stomach, lungs, vagina and urinary tract, and it can help restore balance in all of these microbiomes.
These products are all available over the counter (OTC), in grocery stores, drug stores and health and wellness stores. They come as dietary supplements (capsules, liquids or powders) or as topical lotions or creams for different uses. Our healthcare provider can help us select a good one to try for our needs.
You can also get probiotics in less concentrated quantities from fermented foods and drinks, including:
Yogurt and kefir.
Cottage cheese.
Miso soup.
Kombucha.
Sauerkraut or kimchi.
Pickles and pickle juice.
Fermented foods and drinks are one way to get more probiotics into your GI tract. Food processing can sometimes destroy these natural probiotics, though, so check the labels for “live and active cultures”.
Risks / Benefits
What are the potential health benefits of probiotics?
The beneficial microbes that live in different parts of our bodies assist us in a variety of ways. One of the most important ways is by fighting off the more harmful types of bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites that might also want to live with us. Probiotics, in theory, fight on the side of your beneficial microbes.
Many probiotic products are formulated with beneficial bacteria and yeasts for the purpose of preventing or recovering from bacterial or yeast infections in your different body parts, including:
Atopic dermatitis
and acne.
Cavities and gum disease.
Vaginal and urinary tract infections.
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
Our healthcare provider might suggest using these products preventively if we have a history of infections, or using them to help restore our microbiome after treatment with antibiotics.
Oral probiotics may have many additional benefits. Our gut microbiome — the community of microbes living in your GI tract — plays a complex role in our digestive system, and in many other body systems.
Within our digestive system, we know that a healthy gut microbiome:
Helps break down and absorb certain nutrients and medications.
Produces other important nutrients as by products.
Helps break down and recycle bile after digestion.
Helps train our immune system to recognize and eliminate harmful microbes.
We also know that an unhealthy gut microbiome — one in which harmful microbes outnumber the helpful types — can contribute to a variety of chronic gastrointestinal diseases, including:
Chronic bacterial infections like H. pylori and C. difficile.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
Inflammatory bowel diseases, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s diseases.
General digestive difficulties, like constipation, gas and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Taking oral probiotics might help prevent or treat these conditions, although results may vary.
Beyond your digestive system, we know that our gut microbiome also interacts with our brain and nervous system, our immune system and our endocrine systems. Some researchers believe that the health of our gut microbiome might influence many aspects of our overall health, including our:
Mood and pain tolerance.
Mental acuity and fatigue.
Inflammation and immune response.
Metabolism, blood sugar and fat storage.
All of this is still under active research, though. We don’t fully understand how it all works yet, or what effects probiotics might have within these body systems, if any. There’s not enough evidence to draw solid conclusions, but there’s enough for some healthcare providers to recommend trying them.
Curd and Berries are the ideal probiotics for good health
Add Yogurt and berries in the diet and remain healthy throughout the life. Both are great foods to consume besides your daily meals take this as side dish. It helps with digestion, gives us a good energetic feeling and tastes wonderful. But not many people know that it has many other benefits. After reading all of the below, I’m sure we’ll start eating one cup of yogurt every day with some berries added to it. Their unmistakably sour taste makes them a suitable accompaniment to both savory and sweet cuisines. Is good for dental health Like Barberry gel has shown promise as a potential treatment for dental issues such as plaque buildup and gingivitis (gum inflammation). A study involving 45 boys aged 11 to 12 discovered that those who used a dental gel containing barberry extract had a reduction in gingivitis and plaque. The study’s findings also revealed that barberry gel was more effective than traditional anti-plaque toothpaste. These results indicate that barberry treatments may benefit tooth health, but additional research is needed.
- Protects our teeth The lactic acid in yogurt has a positive and protective effect on our gums and teeth. It can help keep our teeth healthy and pretty and overcome the damage done by other foods and drinks, most commonly – coffee. It’s important to note that although it contains sugar, yogurt has no harmful effect on the enamel of our teeth.
- Reduces allergy symptoms Those of us with seasonal allergies know how hard it can be to do anything once the symptoms start to appear, but a cup of yogurt might be an easy fix to this problem. The probiotics found in yogurt may decrease your body’s reaction to pollen and other allergens, minimizing your allergic reaction.
Builds muscle Yogurt contains all of the essential amino acids necessary to build muscle and other tissues in the body. It is a complete protein, which means it is also a welcome addition to your diet as they support all the necessary biological functions of the human body. Yogurt is rich in carbohydrates that can either help re-fuel replace the energy lost energy. On addition of barberries which contain significant amounts of carbohydrates, fiber, and numerous essential vitamins and minerals that can help in keeping balance between electrolytes. Abundant in vitamin C content, an antioxidant recognized for its potential to safeguard cells from damage that can contribute to ailments like heart disease and cancer. Furthermore, barberries contain zinc, manganese, and copper, all of which play important roles in immunity and disease prevention. The berries’ brilliant red color is due to anthocyanins, which are plant chemicals that may improve the brain and heart health, among other things. May help improve cholesterol levels The presence of berberine in barberry plants has shown promise in positively influencing cholesterol levels. This is achieved through the potential reduction of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. LDL cholesterol is considered “bad” since it can migrate into arterial walls, and triglycerides are a category of fat circulating in the bloodstream.
Are there any risks or side effects to taking probiotics?
While there’s little specific research on the safety of probiotics, they appear to be safe for healthy people to take. They have a long history of widespread and regular use among the public. There’s a small risk of adverse side effects for people with weaker immune systems. This includes people taking immunosuppressant drugs, people with critical illnesses and infants who’ve been born prematurely.
The risk is that a probiotic product might contain a harmful type of microbe along with the helpful types. Microbes are very small, so it’s possible for the wrong kind to slip in under the radar if a product isn’t rigorously tested. This is rare, and it’s not a serious risk for most people. A healthy immune system will easily clear out the imposter. But in a weakened immune system, it could cause a serious infection.
What’s the best way to take probiotics?
we can take probiotics as a supplement or get them through fermented foods and drinks. Both approaches have benefits. In general, food and drink sources may help support a broader range of microbes in our biome, which is good for our overall health. Some foods also contain prebiotics — fibers that feed probiotics and help them thrive.
If one wants to treat a particular issue, then one might want to take a specific probiotic supplement that the healthcare provider has recommended for that purpose. A supplement will typically provide a higher dose of probiotics than food sources will. Take it as recommended on the label. Some probiotics work better with food, and others on an empty stomach. Most need to be taken daily for the best results.
There’s a lot of research in progress to establish the potential benefits of probiotics as medicine, and initial results are promising. Different probiotic products may help improve our skin health, vaginal health or gut health and build up immunity in general. While they may not be the total solution to all the health issues, they might provide an important piece of the puzzle. Ask the health provider about taking probiotics. They can help you pick the best one for you, ensure your safety and monitor our results.