Thursday, July 16, 2009

What Makes A Good Probiotic Supplement

By Xhu Latina

Of late, the health magazines and websites have started discussing probiotics in detail. One thing that is clear is the fact that the probiotic supplements help lots in regulating the digestion mechanism within the human body. With the innumerous brands being made available, people are often confused as to which of the supplements would suit their requirements better.

The meaning of the word probiotic is for life, an apt name for a group of organisms that help us maintain a healthy digestive system, and in turn, a healthy life. There are over four hundred types of these organisms that naturally inhabit our intestinal tract. Research is establishing a wide array of benefits of these friendly bugs. They have been found to help strengthen the immune system and help in the creation of essential vitamins. They keep watch on the harmful bacteria in the gut and keep their population under control. Recent research has also hinted at the capability of certain substances produced by these organisms, to control cholesterol levels in the body.

Probiotics and pre-biotics are not one and the same. Pre-biotics refer to the natural carbohydrates which are not digestible. They have testified to help in the colonization of the beneficial bacteria in the digestive track of humans. Probiotics refer to the friendly gut flora in human beings. They colonize the intestines right after birth. Amidst the hundreds and thousands of micro organisms that are present in the gut of human beings, the friendly bacteria constitute 15% of the overall bacterial population. They have proven to help in curing digestive disorders with ease. The human gut consists of both good and bad bacteria. Though one cannot get rid of the abusive bacteria completely, the utmost thing that can be done is to bring in a balance of good bacteria that can help defending against the harmful ones.

Miso and yoghurt are 2 food items that has probiotics in them. The only disadvantage with taking probiotics from food is the fact that we cannot measure the amount or the number of strains of bacteria that is present in such items. This would not help us in understanding the bodys requirement for probiotics in detail.

It is really worth having probiotics daily as a part of your dietary routine. That would recuperate the loss that the body is put into and can get the gut back to normalcy. Multiple variants of bacterial presence in mandatory for a good probiotic supplement. Since the gut is a storehouse of more than 500 such bacteria, it is essential that the supplements suspension is analogous to the flora of the gut. You should also be sure of the live bacteria that are present in the probiotic supplement that you plan to opt for.

With as this said, it is very clear that the gut flora needs to be taken care. The imbalance in the digestive track needs to be attended to. The best solution to this problem would be to start taking a probiotic supplement right away on a regular basis. But before deciding on the supplement, make sure that it has multiple variants of bacteria in it and that they are live and active. Opt for the supplement that has a higher bacterial density and the one that is made of only natural sources. Talk to your doctor and make a proper decision regarding the probiotic supplement that you can start right away!

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