Many people make the mistake of believing that all microorganisms are inherently bad, but that’s far from the truth! There are good microorganisms and bad ones, and probiotics are definitely one of the former.
There’s a lot of talk surrounding probiotics, which are types of living microorganisms present in certain foods. They have been known to provide all sorts of benefits to one’s health, but what exactly can they do for you? Should you start eating them, and why?
The short answer is yes, you should absolutely add them to your diet! In fact, you’d be amazed at what regular consumption of probiotics can change! Here are some things that happen to your body when you eat probiotics every day.
6 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Eat Probiotics Every Day
1. Your Heart Becomes Healthier
Heart health is crucial to a long life, and to preventing plenty of diseases. Consuming probiotics on a daily basis works to boost heart health in a few ways, with the main ways being:
a) Blood Pressure
Studies have indicated that probiotics can have a positive effect on blood pressure, though the effect is somewhat modest and requires significant dosage. You would have to consume probiotics for more than two months, totalling around 10 million CFUs every day, in order to see results.
What are CFUs? Known as colony-forming units, it is the measurement used when estimating the quantity of fungal or bacterial cells that are capable of multiplying through binary fission within a certain sample.
This sounds like a lot, but given the millions of bacteria on every surface you can think of, it’s not outrageous to be able to consume this many probiotic CFUs daily, and it’s fairly safe. Speak to your doctor about options before taking any form of supplementation.
b) Cholesterol
Probiotics help to bring down the levels of LDL, which are essentially “bad” forms of cholesterol, within the body. This is done thanks to some of the bacteria within probiotics, which produce lactic acid. This lactic acid then goes on to the gut, where it helps to break down bile.
Bile, which is naturally produced within the body, aids digestion, but is also made up largely of cholesterol. When bile travels, it can make its way into the bloodstream, thus reabsorbing as cholesterol. Probiotics help to prevent this from happening.
Studies have proven that consuming probiotic yogurt for between half a month and two months can help reduce LDL levels by around 5%. Other studies suggest that probiotics help to boost good cholesterol levels instead, namely HDL.
2. Your Immunity Gets Stronger
Negative bacteria is primarily responsible for a weak immune system. Probiotics help kill off all that bad bacteria, allowing you to be more protected against infections and illnesses. How does it do so? Here are some of the ways:
a) Antibodies
Certain types of probiotics have the ability to help facilitate the production of a variety of components, including antibodies – completely natural, body-produced antibodies!
b) Gut Bacteria
Probiotics stifle bad gut bacteria growth. We’ll touch on more about this in our next point.
c) Immune Cells
Some kinds of probiotics may be capable of producing good immune cells that help your body fight against infections and viruses. These cells include T lymphocytes, cells that produce Immunoglobulin A, and killer cells.
You don’t even have to take these theories at face value; plenty of studies show how well probiotics can protect the body! Some of them include:
· Respiratory infections
A review of multiple studies revealed that probiotics can likely assist in preventing and healing respiratory infections of all varieties.
Though evidence in adults is less conclusive, in children, consuming Lactobacillus GG probiotics regularly can reduce the development of regular or severe infections by an impressive 17%.
· Urinary tract infections
Probiotics are actually surprisingly positive for vaginal health in multiple ways, and one such way is in urinary tract infections or UTIs. In fact, they bring down the risk of developing UTIs by 50% in women!
3. Your Digestive Health Improves
The most effective things that happen to your body when you eat probiotics every day are digestive benefits. There’s a whole lot that probiotics can do for your gut, so here are some of the most positive ones.
a) Balancing Bacteria
Probiotics are completely packed with positive bacteria and microorganisms, and these are believed to aid in the overall balance of bacteria within the gut.
Excessive bad bacteria, often from unhealthy diets, sickness, medication, and other issues, can cause a number of negative consequences, such as weight gain, digestive problems, allergies, and even decreased positive thinking and mental health.
Probiotics help increase the good bacteria content of the gut, preventing these unwanted health problems from arising. Eating enough will definitely help you out.
b) Easing Digestive Disorders
In the United States alone, more than a million individuals deal with digestive disorders such as Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disorder, and ulcerative colitis.
Some kinds of probiotics – namely those within the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains – have been found to improve ulcerative colitis well. E. coli Nissle, another probiotic, was also found to significantly aid in ulcerative colitis remission – just as much as actual drugs designed for that purpose.
Probiotics also reduce the risk of developing severe necrotizing enterocolitis, a dangerous and potentially fatal bowel disease that affects premature infants, by half.
In addition, early research shows that probiotics may help manage irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. More study is still needed before conclusions are made.
c) Diarrhea Prevention and Treatment
Probiotics typically assist in diarrhea treatment, especially after eating antibiotics. Antibiotics are fairly well-known for causing diarrhea that can be quite severe. This occurs because antibiotics throw off the good and bad bacteria balance.
Studies indicate that regular probiotic consumption can bring down the risk of developing diarrhea from antibiotics by 42%. These probiotics are mainly of the Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and yeast Saccharomyces boulardii strains.
But it’s just not antibiotic-based diarrhea that probiotics help; other types of diarrhea are helped, too, including an 8% decrease in travelers’ diarrhea, a 57% decrease in children’s diarrhea, and a 26% decrease in other adult diarrhea.
4. Your Kids Are Less Likely To Have Allergies
Infants and children who consume certain types of probiotics tend to have less severe eczema and allergy symptoms. Similarly, pregnant parents who consume probiotics during pregnancy tend to have children with an 83% lower chance of winding up with eczema in their first few years of life.
Some studies also somewhat suggest that probiotics can ease the typical inflammatory responses experienced by those allergic to milk and dairy. However, in both this case and in the case of eczema in children, more research is needed to draw any firm conclusion.
5. Your Mental Health Gets Better
Probiotics can’t get into your brain, but they can aid your gut health, as we’ve discussed – and many studies actually link digestive health to the state of one’s mental health. Studies have shown that regular probiotic consumption has great effects on mental health, mood, and positive thinking. Some studies that have indicated these results are:
a) Chemical Workers
Over 6 weeks, 70 workers consumed 100 grams of yogurt containing probiotics on a daily basis – or probiotic capsules. In both cases, there were notable benefits shown for a variety of disorders, including:
- Stress
- Depression
- Anxiety
b) Depression
Over a period of eight weeks, 40 study participants consumed probiotic supplements and saw decreased levels and symptoms of depression. Further investigation also saw inflammatory proteins, such as C-reactive proteins, and insulin hormones decrease in amount through this consumption.
c) Reviews
A comprehensive review covering 15 studies conducted on humans found that Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strain probiotic supplementation over the course of between one and two months can ease multiple mental health disorder symptoms. This includes:
- Depression
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Anxiety
- Autism
- Memory-related conditions
6. You Lose Weight
Regular probiotic consumption, coupled with reasonable eating habits, can help weight loss progress in a safe and positive way. There are a number of different ways that this happens, including the following.
a) Satiety
Probiotics can help you to feel more full after meals, and it can also allow you to stay fuller for longer. This prevents unnecessary snacking.
b) Dietary Fat
Certain strains of probiotics can help the intestines prevent absorption of too much dietary fat. Instead of storing the fat, the body expels them as waste material so you don’t retain it.
c) Calorie Burning and Fat Burning
Probiotics boost some hormones in the body that help the body burn calories and prevent excessive fat storage. One such type of hormone is Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, known also as GLP-1.
d) Belly Fat
A study conducted over 210 different people revealed that consuming probiotics (namely Lactobacillus gasseri) can help reduce belly fat. This research, conducted over three months, showed that even small doses helped participants achieve 8.5% lower belly fat.
e) Weight Loss
Research indicates that the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus is effective in aiding weight loss efforts in women. When taken for around three months continuously, women experienced 50% more weight loss results than those who did not take probiotics.
Do note, though, that not all types of probiotics help you lose weight. For example, Lactobacillus acidophilus can actually do the opposite and lead to more weight gain. As of right now, additional research is needed before we can make any firm conclusions regarding probiotics and weight loss.
Final Thoughts On Some Things That Happen To Your Body When You Eat Probiotics Every Day
Probiotics are fantastic microorganisms to add to your diet. Whether you take supplements or eat one of the countless foods available that contain these components, you’re sure to get benefits.
You can get probiotics from foods like kefir, yogurt, kombucha, sauerkraut, apple cider vinegar, kvass, natto, raw cheese, miso, tempeh, and other fermented foods. There’s no shortage of options to try out.
Please note that you should never attempt to consume any type of probiotic supplement – or any supplement for their matter – without a doctor’s consent. This is especially important if you have any pre-existing medical conditions.
The good news is that probiotics have little to no side effects for those without any health conditions. As such, probiotics are a completely safe and healthy way to aid gut health, mental health, heart health, and weight loss efforts!
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