Health is indeed our wealth and taking care of it should be a priority. When we get sick, we can’t do anything, which is why people usually do everything to prevent illness or any kind of diseases.
Some of these illnesses are caused by bacteria which is the main reason people use antibiotics. Antibiotics are used to eradicate harmful bacteria. But note that not all bacteria are harmful – there are some that help our body.
Sometimes antibiotics wipe out these helpful bacteria, causing infections. This is where probiotics come in. Probiotics are products that contain good bacteria. These bacteria normally inhabit the human digestive tract helping the digestive process and producing vitamins.
Evidence shows that it enables the immune system to work properly, resisting common infections. These helpful bacteria are naturally found in fermented food products, like yogurt milk and kefir, along with pickles and sauerkraut.
Though these foods provide good bacteria, the concentration, however, is not high enough which can’t be good. That is why aside from probiotic foods there are also probiotic supplements. This may come in different forms – powder, liquid and capsule.
While antibiotics remove bad bacteria, probiotics grow the good ones. Probiotic foods and supplements are two different things having the same goal – to provide us good bacteria that can help improve our health.
Different as they are, the recommended dosage is the same. Well, like yogurt, it is used as food. One of these friendly bacteria is Lactobacillus acidophilus, a known probiotic having a lot of benefits. Here are some:
- Digestive benefits – Acidophilus plays a critical role in our digestion. Some study shows that products that contain Lactobacillus help decrease dyspepsia (bacteria), reduce stress-related digestive complications, prevent antibiotic-related diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, decrease leaky gut symptoms, and relieve IBS. Many even say it can also improve your appetite. Though research is still in the process, the effectiveness of acidophilus is not yet agreed by many.
- Controls cholesterol and improves blood pressure – Based on the fact that acidophilus has the ability to assimilate cholesterol, ingestion of acidophilus-containing products can reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also lowers triglyceride. Generally, it drops the level of cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Lactose intolerance – Acidophilus milk has been used to treat people with lactose intolerance despite the controversy on its effectiveness on lactose digestion.
- Anti-allergy and immunity benefits – A study from Japan proved that a strain of acidophilus in fermented milk reduces symptoms of allergenic rhinitis while improving immunity. There are also other clinics that support the claims of the study about the reduction of allergy symptoms.
- Improve infant conditions – Acidophilus help preterm infants’ weight gain and prevents diarrhea.
- Fight different infections caused by bacteria and fungi – There are a lot of benefits from taking probiotics with acidophilus; it can fight viruses with targeted antibodies, fight respiratory infections, enhance vaccine effectiveness, prevent E. coli infection, tonsillitis, and fight pink-eye.
- Nutritional benefits – Acidophilus-containing products produce B vitamins and other nutrients. It also enhances calcium absorption and improves appetite.
- Fight other chronic conditions – Some study shows that it also decreases the chance of kidney stones and reduces anemia.
Choosing the right probiotic supplement includes knowing how much bacteria it contains and how many strains of bacteria are present. There are probiotic products in the market that contain 1bn to 100bn or more bacteria per capsule. The one with more colony forming units per capsule is more recommended.
When it comes to the strains of bacteria, it is important to buy the one having multiple strains. Since there are probiotics that contain less than two strains and some more than 15 different strains, choose the bigger number. The greater the number of different strains, the more help it can contribute to the body.
Speaking of strains, you have to make sure that the probiotic products you purchase have acidophilus. It is known not only because it is a common good bacteria strain,but also it has the most potential benefits for a person’s overall health.
Whether you choose a supplement in powder, liquid or capsule form, don’t worry as all are considered safe. However, endocarditis caused by Lactobacillus species has been reported to have caused patients having abnormal heart valves to experience dental manipulation.
