Great health is considered a valuable component in achieving a higher quality of life. With perfect health, you can do anything and everything you want or need without worrying that your body is going to give in to the pressures that life throws at you. Unfortunately, not everybody has great health. Certain hard-to-break bad habits result to the imbalance of bacteria in your body. Staying up late, consuming too much alcohol, eating junk food, smoking, and stress all contribute to the depletion of resident probiotics and the takeover of the pathogenic bacteria. Once the pathogenic bacteria proliferate too much in the digestive tract, diarrhea is a common consequence and a multitude of other random symptoms appear. When diarrhea is present, the nutrients needed by every organ system of your body are not provided. In effect, the body does not function optimally and the immune system is not able to protect the body from foreign elements so you get sick. To regain your good health, you have to focus on replenishing your lost probiotics in your digestive system. This replenishment is aided by the ingestion of probiotic-rich foods or probiotic supplements.
People who want to incorporate probiotics in their diet and health routines have to know the science behind probiotics. The following are some facts about these beneficial bacteria:
- Bifidbacteria and lactobacilli are considered the most common strains of microbes used in probiotic products.
- Substances that increase probiotics are called probiotics. They provide the energy needed by probiotics so that they could perform what they d best inside the colon.
- The combination of a probiotic and a probiotic is called synbiotics.
- Probiotics are clinically efficient but their efficiency is not measured by their higher number.
- Ingested probiotics in the form of supplements or food are considered safe.
- Dairy products are ideal vehicles for probiotics since they provide a good environment for these good microorganisms to live in.
Probiotics are called probiotics because they have health benefits that are clinically proven. The combination of more than one strain in a probiotics product doesn’t exactly mean that that probiotic item will become very effective. More studies are needed so that the effectiveness of the probiotic strains can be proven. These beneficial bacteria have classifications—group, genus, species, and strain. This certain classification can be associated to the basic components of a person’s name:
- Genus = family name
- Species = given name
- Strain = fingerprints
If people don’t know the strain of bacteria, then the function or the role of hat bacteria can’t be determined. To better relay to the consumers, the strains have to be modified by their manufacturers. One good example of this would be the Lactobacillus casei DN-114001 found in DanActive yogurt. In the packaging, L.casei Defensisis written. This common practice intends to help the consumers comprehend the benefits of the probiotic or even remember the strain a lot more quickly. Any legitimate company would have to specifically pinpoint and label the correct scientific name of the strain. With this, the consumers should be encouraged to read the labels all the time.
As smart consumers, you have to know the difference among all the different types of probiotics. Each strain needs a particular role to play. Strains vary in properties but this doesn’t mean that they would yield different effects on the host. It isn’t impossible at all that an active substance in a probiotic product may be enough to give a potent result. However, it is always possible that the strains or active organisms in these probiotics products would need further verification.
The probiotic manufacturers can always use the strain’s characteristics to guard the specific traits of their products. Advertising for the strains should not be utilized in brochures, evaluations, or dossiers. Take note that if the probiotic products have higher numbers of strains, this doesn’t mean that it is more potent.
Probiotic intake is a habit that has to be done with the guidance of your healthcare provider so that you can achieve the maximum benefits that good bacteria have to offer. It would be better to consult your doctor first before you shop around for your probiotics.