24 May Common Health Benefits of Taking Probiotics [Except Gut Health]
Probiotics gained popularity over time as post-meal routines for their amazingly good benefits to the gut.
Available in the form of supplements, drinks, and mixes, probiotics are combinations of live strains of good bacteria and other microorganisms.
According to health experts, they help stimulate the growth of good microflora in various regions of the body.
However, the main function that complements the other health benefits of taking probiotics is mainly focused on the gut.
Here’s why adding probiotics to your routine can be a way of improving your quality of life.
Common Health Benefits of Taking Probiotics – It Goes Beyond The Gut
Our body consists of both good and bad bacteria. While the bad bacteria generally try to overpower the bad ones, good bacteria play a role in maintaining a stable pH for healthy functioning.
Probiotics are a combination of these good bacteria and yeast that help in creating a balance in the gut microbiome.
Although these good bacteria can be present in various regions of your body, probiotics are generally known for their benefits to the gut.
Let us find out why before we reveal some other exciting common benefits of taking probiotics on your overall health and well-being.
Probiotics and Gut Health
The gut holds the maximum number of good microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and even fungi.
Since probiotics stimulate the growth factors for these good bacteria, the most signs probiotics are working are seen in this region.
In summary, probiotics help improve your gut health by:
- Balance gut microbiome
- Relieving gastric issues
- Strengthening the gut
Here’s how you can get all these benefits by taking probiotics the right way.
#1. Balancing Good-Bad Bacteria
A good balance between the bacteria populace regulates the healthy functioning of the digestive system.
In some cases, the balance is hurt and there’s a rise in bad bacteria; for example, when you use antibiotics.
Antibiotics can often kill good bacteria, resulting in diarrhea. Though, taking probiotics along with your antibiotics might restore the balance and prevent any such negatives.
#2. Relieve Symptoms of Gastric Problems
Imbalance in the bacterial growth of the gut can cause severe gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
According to research, taking probiotics after meals help in reducing some of the symptoms like:
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Bloating
- Stomach ache
#3. Strengthens the Gut
The gut barrier composed of thin walls of cells can sometimes get damaged due to factors like stress, alcoholism, medications, and even poor diet.
Since the barrier functions for preventing the leakage of disease-causing organisms and partially digested food into the bloodstream, the damage can be harmful.
But according to research, probiotic supplements were found effective in strengthening the damaged wall. Plus, probiotics can help protect the gut barrier.
By helping form good gut health, probiotics also help in nourishing your overall health while resulting in other great benefits.
Since a healthy gut reflects a healthy weight and healthy skin, we are also gonna talk about how probiotics can change the way you look.
Benefits of Taking Probiotics for Weight Loss
The gut microbiome has a special mechanism for converting food into energy, which is important for the right breakdown of foods.
But when the good bacterial population is overpowered by the bad bacteria, their functioning slows down, resulting in slow extraction of energy.
Hence, taking probiotics and increasing the good bacteria can also increase the release of energy and ultimately result in weight loss.
However, these factors can affect the role of probiotics in weight loss:
- Type of probiotics
- Age
- Gender
- Bodyweight
Now, while probiotics are beneficial for your physical health, they can also benefit your mind. In fact, the gut bacterial microbiome is directly related to mental well-being.
Benefits of Probiotics for Mental Health
Gut bacteria also have an indirect effect on the mind and the brain and hence their stable growth can prevent many mental disorders.
Here’s how your brain can benefit from probiotics:
#1. Effect on Stress and Mood
Good microflora in your gut has the property of releasing neurotransmitters that enhance sleep and mood.
Since stress can damage the flora, taking probiotics during stress can increase the growth of the bacteria.
As the good bacteria increases, it’s gonna increase the release of transmitters, eventually improving your mood and reducing the stress.
#2. Effects on Mental Disorders
Depression and anxiety are characterized by the reduced release of serotonin or happy hormones.
Since gut bacteria secrete the maximum neurotransmitters, taking probiotics can reduce the symptoms by signaling the release of these neurotransmitters.
Other than mental health, keeping the gut bacteria balanced also helps in strengthening your immune system.
Probiotics and Immunity
Since many immune cells are located in the gut, keeping the gut healthy automatically improves the immune response.
Some of the benefits of taking probiotics on immunity include:
#1. Speedy Recovery
Several diseases can weaken your gut bacteria which makes recovery slower because of the poor absorption rate of nutrients.
But taking probiotics restores the balance and normal functioning. Thus, reviving the immunity for a speedy recovery.
#2. Less Severe Infections
Some infections like cold and flu can be more severe if your gut bacteria are unbalanced.
#3. Prevents Antibiotics Resistance
Doctors often prescribe probiotics with antibiotics to protect your gut from losing good bacteria and also to reduce the chances of harmful bacteria developing antibiotic resistance.
While these are some of the general health benefits that probiotics offer, there are also other benefits of taking such supplements for the gut.
Other than weight loss, maintaining good gut health also helps in making your skin glow and radiate.
Benefits of Probiotics for Your Skin
Probiotics can work for your skin by both improving gut health and also by acting upon the flora around your skin.
Since even topical probiotics are available, they can nourish the good flora around your skin and help fight skin infections.
By acting on the gut, it can reduce the severity of your skin allergies too.
Well, clearly, probiotics can offer a whole lot of benefits when used the right way.
Moving ahead from the general health benefits of probiotics, there are also sex-related benefits that one can gain from probiotics.
For example, the benefits of men’s probiotics can be different from what women experience with probiotics.
Sex-Specific Benefits of Probiotics
Other than the gut, the reproductive system also has a flora.
For example, if someone had to ask why do women need probiotics, the answer could go beyond the gut to their vagina.
This is because, in women, the vagina holds the maximum number of good bacteria after the gut. This flora protects your private area from pathogens and infections.
Essentially, taking probiotics can help women as well as men albeit differently.
Men and Women Need Different Probiotics
Probiotics are good bacteria found in the gut, and every person requires probiotics for the smooth functioning of their bowel.
While the above-mentioned fact is now known to all, not many know that men and women need different probiotics.
To elaborate, just like how every person’s fingerprints differ, the gut microbiome of every person is also unique.
Adding to it, your gender also plays a role in how your body reacts to probiotics.
All in all, there are several reasons why men and women need different probiotics. Some of them are as follows:
#1. Men have to deal with more acid reflux and lesions in the small intestine. On the other hand, women are more likely to experience constipation, IBS, and other gastrointestinal issues.
#2. Women suffer from more hormonal fluctuations in their lifetime as compared to men. This, as a result, alters their digestion process.
Thus, probiotics for women are specifically designed to counter their hormonal flux effects.
#3. Stress also plays a huge role in gut health, and it is now a known fact. There’s a difference in how men and women tackle stress. As compared to men, women take more stress.
Not only this, there are physical symptoms of stress on women’s bodies. As a result, probiotics for men and women will automatically be different in tackling mental health issues.
#4. Female probiotics need to be designed in a way to help balance their vaginal microbiome. It is because several types of bacteria live in the vagina and get affected due to menopause and hormonal flux.
#5. A woman’s and man’s gut react differently to medicines. That is to say, women’s guts are more likely to damage and lead to GI inflammation after the use of antibiotics as compared to men.
In essence, the entire body system of men and women tends to have certain differences in their functioning at every stage of life.
But even though women are likely to gain crucial benefits from probiotics, it is equally required by men as well.
Benefits of Probiotics for Men
Based on the evidence, probiotics’ effect on the gut proves to be beneficial for men in more ways than one.
#1. Healthy Prostate
Probiotics can help in the treatment of prostate cancer by improving the body’s response to the treatment.
It can also help in reducing the chances of encountering urinary tract infections as some specific types of probiotics can prevent the entry of pathogens.
#2. Improve Testosterone Levels
Though more research is needed to confirm the fact that probiotics can help boost testosterone release, the existing studies do have a positive response.
For example, an animal study found a probiotic strain effective in increasing serum testosterone levels.
Also, a human study reported good testosterone and sperm count among men going through probiotic or prebiotic therapy.
#3. Can Increase Sperm Count
Some health experts believe that male infertility can also be caused by bacteria.
A study also highlighted that certain bad bacterial strains were found higher in the semen sample containing low sperm while specific strains of probiotics were reported in a healthy semen sample.
This establishes a clear link between good bacteria and sperm count.
Looking at the above benefits, we bet men have some new reasons to try out probiotics.
Now that you know how men can benefit from probiotics, let’s find out why should women take probiotics.
Benefits of Probiotics for Women
Probiotics can help women with:
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
- Fertility
- Vaginal infections
Here’s why and how females can get these benefits from using a women’s probiotic formula.
#1. Urinary Tract Infections
Some specific strains of bacteria can help reduce the frequency of urinary tract infections by improving the growth of good bacteria around the vagina.
These probiotics act similarly as they act on the gut and help maintain the bacterial balance.
#2. Improve Fertility
Certain probiotics can help in increasing the chances of fertility by maintaining a good balance of microorganisms in your gut.
Since a good balance is important for maintaining a good pH for the sperm to pass on and reach the fallopian tubes, probiotics can be used for improving fertility too.
#3. Treats Vaginal Infections
By balancing the microbiome of the vagina, probiotics can help reduce the symptoms of severe vaginal infections.
In fact, they can also help in speedy recovery from infections.
However, in spite of these many benefits, probiotics are still live strains of bacteria and hence might not suit everyone.
Who Should Not Take Probiotics?
Whenever taking a supplement, whether it’s for nutritional intake or probiotics, it’s always good to consult a doctor before.
That said, probiotics are generally healthy for most people. Yet, certain groups should avoid taking the supplement.
- People with weak immunity – These people can exhibit negative effects of the bacterial strains as their body is not strong enough to counteract the bacteria’s strong actions.
- Allergic people – People allergic to substances like gluten, soy, dairy products, and other such stuff should focus on taking probiotics that are not manufactured in the same facility as the allergens. Or they can take a supplement that specifically mentions it’s free of these common allergens.
- People with already good gut health – If you already have a stable gut microbiome with good integrity and no problems like bloating or gas, or any chronic gut infections, you should avoid taking probiotics. A stable gut is a sign of a well-balanced bacterial population. Adding up more bacteria in such a case can do more harm than good.
Nonetheless, those who suffer from any health issues or take medications should consult a healthcare professional before taking any new probiotic supplement.
Final Word
Probiotics are filled with the goodness of healthy bacteria that hold the key to good health.
But not all good bacterial strains are good probiotics. Only certain strains are popularly used.
One such popular strain is the lactobacillus, which not just improves gut health but also improves immunity and bone health.
In fact, other strains can also be used based on what benefits you are looking for in your probiotic.
But while using probiotics, one should be cautious about the side effects of probiotics too as not everyone has the same response to the bacteria.
With this, we come to the end and would love to take any further questions about probiotics and their use.
Do leave your feedback down below along with any other queries you may have.
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