The Importance of Probiotics
Doesn’t it sound a bit ironic that it’s actually a good thing to have more than 100 trillion bacteria living in your digestive system? It turns out that not all bacteria is bad. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that are found in the healthy digestive system and help you live a healthy life by providing many known benefits. The importance of probiotics is due to your bodies need of 9 out of 10 bacteria in your gut to be ‘good’ bacteria.
Facts About Probiotic Bacteria
The term Probiotic has a Greek origin meaning “for life”. Probiotics protect our health by fighting bad bacteria and toxins that get ingested with food or get absorbed through pollutants in the air, in turn minimizing chances for infections and illnesses.
When we do not have enough probiotics in our intestines, a lot of other internal mechanisms can be thrown off balance and cause chronic diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), metabolic syndrome and can even lead to cancer. Did you know that about 75 percent of our immune system is in our digestive tract? It has only occurred to us in recent years not too long ago understanding actually how important the digestive tract is for having a strong immune system. Not only is more than 75 percent of our immune system in our digestive tract, it is also where the most amount of antibodies are produced. Antibodies the protective cells that are solely responsible for fighting bad bacteria and viruses. So it is very important to maintain a healthy immune system by making sure we have enough probiotics in our digestive system. There are many factors that contribute to a low amount of probiotics in the gut. Due to the average modern day diet and strong antibiotic prescriptions, the amount of probiotics we are able to maintain can become dangerously low. In the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diets, more probiotic boosting foods are regularly consumed such as fermented dairy and vegetable products like live cultured yogurt, kefir, and pickled vegetables. Interestingly enough, the Middle East and Mediterranean regions are where we have one of the lowest rates of chronic diseases. If those fermented foods don’t sound too appetizing in exchange for better health, then you’re in luck because there are probiotic supplements structured to provide exactly the right amount to keep us healthy.
Sources:
http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2012/4/Overlooked-Role-Probiotics-Human-Health/Page-01
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/advancements-in-research/fundamentals/in-depth/the-gut-where-bacteria-and-immune-system-meet
