What are the Probiotics Health Benefits?
Probiotics Health Benefits – Here are the health benefits of probiotics, the word that literally means “for life” in Greek, and these are definitely useful to you.
They are known as live microorganisms that support healthy populations of bacteria in your digestive tract if adequate amounts are consumed. The common groups are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and among the popular strains are L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, and B. bifidum.
Based on the article in The Healthy, probiotics can shorten the common cold. Usually, colds can last up to 10 days. With the help of probiotics, the days you feel lousy can be shortened.
Probiotics can also protect premature infants. When babies are premature, they can develop a serious bacterial infection in the intestines called necrotizing enterocolitis. This might happen when they are in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“When babies are born prematurely, they do not have beneficial bacteria in their guts, but when probiotics are introduced through feedings, the baby will get the good bacteria and not get this deadly infection,” Gregor Reid, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Surgery at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and the Endowed Chair in Human Microbiome and Probiotics at the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, explained.
Probiotics are also an aid to reduce cholesterol which is a common triggering factor of heart diseases. Lactobacillus probiotics reduced both total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, 15 studies published in 2017 in PLoS One supported this.
It was also proven that probiotics can treat bacterial vaginosis (BV). A study published in the Canadian Journal of Microbiology suggests that probiotics are helpful when taken with the antibiotic tinidazole for this condition.
Another health benefit of probiotics is that it can help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. The most effective strain for this health benefit is the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and this was followed by Saccharomyces boulardii.
One of the common sources of probiotics is yogurt and this dairy product has a lot of health benefits as well.