Why Probiotic Supplements Are The Best Health Investment You Can Make
The importance of gut health has been all the rage, with a slew of new studies promising better mental health, less constipation, and better skin. Great gut health significantly reduces the risk of diabetes, IBS and arthritis.
Harvard Health found that the brain and GI tract were so closely linked, that issues in the intestines can increase anxiety and depression. With all these new scientific findings you might start to wonder about the state of your own intestinal tract.
Some signs of an unhealthy gut include:
- Moodiness
- Difficulty sleeping and chronic tiredness
- Skin conditions like acne or eczema
- A variety of food intolerances and poor digestion
- Stomach issues with frequent diarrhoea, constipation, and bloating
If you’re looking to better your gut health there are three important ingredients: probiotics, prebiotics, and a high-fibre diet. Probiotics can be found in fermented foods and supplements, while prebiotics is the indigestible fibres that the healthy bacteria in your gut like to feed on. Both are essential to good gut health. One of the best places to start is by introducing probiotics into your lifestyle.
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are made up of live beneficial microorganisms and yeast that live in the intestinal tract. These bacteria build up the body’s immune function and restore the balance between harmful bacteria and healthy bacteria.
The benefits of probiotics
- Healthy probiotic levels can counteract inflammation.
- Decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Have been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Decrease digestive problems, gas and bloating.
- Boost the immune system.
- Can promote healthy-looking skin and anti-ageing.
- Protection against the harmful effects of antibiotics.
And the benefits of probiotics don’t stop there. From improving IBS to helping you lose weight, probiotics are the foundation of overall good health.
Probiotics vs prebiotics
Probiotics are live, beneficial bacteria that are found in certain food products and supplements. Probiotics help to improve digestion and immunity, which may improve overall health.
Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that can be found in some food products and supplements. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that help probiotics grow and flourish in the body.
Sources of probiotics
There are two ways to easily introduce more probiotics into your lifestyle. The first is through enriching your diet and the second is by taking a probiotic supplement.
Probiotics in food
Including probiotic foods in your diet is a great way to give your gut health a boost. Probiotic benefits can be found in all fermented foods. These include pickled vegetables, like kimchi and sauerkraut, tempeh, cottage cheese and miso.
Some yoghurts naturally contain probiotics while others are artificially enriched with specific probiotic bacteria. Drinks like kefir and kombucha are also great dietary sources of probiotics.
Probiotics supplements
If you have dietary restrictions, are raising a family of picky eaters or if you simply aren’t partial to the taste of fermented foods, daily probiotic supplements can be a fantastic way to ensure you and your family are looking after your gut health.
Regardless of your diet, probiotic tablets can be a great way to ensure you’re getting enough beneficial bacteria in your system, when taking medicines like antibiotics may disturb the balance. Probiotic tablets have different make-ups of naturally occurring probiotic bacteria, and different probiotic tablets will provide different benefits.
How do I choose a good probiotic?
With so many probiotic tablets on the market, how can you choose the right one for yourself and your family? Common names to look for in a probiotic include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium family. These are some of the most well-researched probiotics in the scientific community.
Real and effective probiotics contain live microbes and active cultures. When looking for probiotics look out for CFUs (colony-forming units) which indicate the number of bacterial cells in each tablet.
Ideally, a supplement should contain some prebiotics–a fibre that these good bacteria like to feed on, like Galacto and Fructo Oligosaccharides.
Tones Family Health’s Probiotics 4 billion capsules contain 4 billion CFUs per capsule making it one of the most comprehensive probiotics on the market. This probiotic is also free from artificial preservatives and is enriched with prebiotics.
It’s never too late to start looking after your gut health. Good gut health and the search for a trustworthy probiotic supplement don’t need to be complicated.