PROBIOTICS AND THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS
· Probiotics refers to dietary supplements or foods that contain beneficial or "good," bacteria that are similar to those normally found in our digestive system.
· Probiotics can be found in cultured dairy products including yogurt, natural cheese, kefir and buttermilk, green foods such as wheat grass, spirulina and chlorella.
· Studies have found that probiotics improve nutrient bioavailability, for B vitamins, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium and phosphorus and many more.
· Probiotics helps in improving the severity and frequency of symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
- Probiotics can enhance both the specific and nonspecific immune response, possibly by activating macrophages, increasing levels of cytokines, increasing natural killer cell activity, and/or increasing levels of immunoglobulins.
- Strains of lactic acid bacteria, such as S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus and other lactobacilli in fermented milk products, can alleviate symptoms of lactose intolerance by providing bacterial lactase to the intestine and stomach.
- Probiotic bacteria may reduce colon cancer risk by reducing the incidence and number of tumors.
- Probiotics helps in nutrients absorption and synthesis of intrinsic factor. In addition to that probiotics improve the digestibility of some dietary nutrients such as protein and fat.
- Probiotics improves the intestinal mobility and helps in relieving severe constipation.
- Sources of probiotics are rich in vitamin D, Vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin and vitamin B6 and helps in maintaing the intestinal microflora of the body.
- Short-chain fatty acids such as lactic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid produced by lactic acid bacteria helps to maintain an appropriate pH and protect against pathological changes in the colonic mucosa.
- Probiotic consumption is proved useful in the treatment of many types of diarrhea, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea in adults, travellers’ diarrhea, and diarrhea diseases in young children caused by rotaviruses.