What Is Probiotics?

Probiotics are microorganisms or bacteria that live in the human intestinal tract. They help the body's natural immunity, keep us healthy and help our digestion system. As opposed to antibiotics, probiotics are supplements containing live bacteria (sometimes referred to as "friendly" bacteria) that aid in proper bodily function.

There are more than 400 different species of bacteria situated throughout our entire digestion system, some of which are helpful and others harmful. This is a large quantity of working bacteria which perform very important functions in our body. The stomach and the intestines are a very acidic environment which is what helps to kill off "bad bugs" entering our bodies, however this environment can also be damaging to the "good bugs". It can therefore be hard to sustain a reasonable amount of good bacteria to maintain health.

The idea that you should install friendly bacteria to get you back to health is the antithesis of antibiotics. Instead of removing bacteria, Probiotics aims to add some. Antibiotics revolutionised medical treatment, killing a number of life threatening diseases in a matter of days. In a world where we spend much of our time ridding ourselves of germs, it seems perverse that we may need to add some germs back into our lives. However in recent times many Doctors and Scientists are examining the idea of probiotics, and are starting to promote the alternate method treatment. It is believed that by drastically increasing the good bacteria in our body, it produces a tougher environment for bad bacteria to survive in. This method is seen to be healthier than antibiotics which also harm valuable good bacteria.

Benefits of Probiotics?

These valuable bacteria provide a number of health benefits:

-Prevents Yeast Infections

-Provides healthy weight loss

-Improves the immune system

-Can prevent allergies from developing

-Fights against cancers and tumours

-Helps prevent asthma and cardiovascular diseases

-Protects the digestive track

-Prevents diarrhoea

-Prevents Irritable Bowel Syndrome

-Helps ease Lactose Intolerance

-Lowers cholesterol

-Lowers blood pressure

Probiotics most valuable benefit however, is its impact on our general health. It helps to sustain a greater well-being, which can in turn affect how long we live, how healthy we feel and our quality of life.

Types of Probiotics:

Most probiotics are derived from Dairy and previously this has been one of the main sources of friendly bacteria. Although in recent years Doctors and Scientist have developed probiotics into a diet supplement. Many Probiotics come in capsules, tablets or mixed with processed foods or yogurt.

Many foods on the market claim to contain probiotics, however to use this word on a food label only requires 1 million bacteria per gram. In studies carried out on probiotics it was found that roughly 10 million bacteria are required per gram to ensure they make it safely through to the intestine.

The most preferred method is to take probiotics as a dietary supplement in tablet or capsule form. This method prevents us from having to eat bad foods in order to ensure our levels of good bacteria. It is the healthiest and most effective way to sustain a healthy level of good bacteria and a healthy well-being.