When you start to feel sluggish from the daily grind of life, this may be your body telling you to slow down.
Life can get busy and we may start depriving ourselves of enough sleep and resort to eating out too frequently. All of this combined can cause major stress on our bodies. We all need a little help in this department.
Probiotics are an easy solution to help us "get back into fighting shape." So, how exactly do probiotics work?
Our body has both good and bad bacteria. When there is too much bad bacteria, we may experience uncomfortable, embarrassing, and painful symptoms such as bloating, gassiness, or constipation.
Probiotics are proven to help restore balance in your gut. They are living, healthy strains of bacteria that compete with harmful microorganisms for space and nutrients in your digestive tract.
Normal digestion occurs when there is a healthy ratio of good to bad bacteria in our stomach.
4 Ways Probiotics Can Help
Since 70% of our immune system is connected to our GI tract, keeping our gut healthy is a major factor in maintaining overall health and wellness.
[1] Bad bacteria are kept in check - helping to rebalance the gut for heathy digestion. If good bacteria are competing for the same nutrients as bad bacteria, then the bad bacteria can't survive, allowing the good bacteria to take over the stomach and promote healthy digestion.
[2] Protect the body from harmful bacteria - aids in restoring the intestinal barrier, which protects us from destructive microorganisms entering our bloodstream.
[3] Replace good bacteria after taking a course of antibiotics - this is especially important in helping to replenish the body of healthy bacteria. For example, amoxicillan is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections and due to its potency it can also kill off certain strains of good bacteria in the gut.
[4] Helps enhance the absorption of certain nutrients and minerals - certain strains of healthy bacteria are able to lower the pH in the stomach. A more acidic environment favors greater absorption of nutrients and minerals, as well as decreasing the survival rate of bad bacteria.