Contrary to popular belief, bacteria isn’t inherently bad for you. Your gut has quite a bit of bad bacteria, that’s true, but it’s also filled to the brim with plenty of good bacteria, which will work to aid in preventing illnesses and certain health conditions. They’re not a cure all, but as an aid to your health, they’re fairly important.
This is why some doctors will recommend probiotics rather than antibiotics. Antibiotics will work to destroy bacteria indiscriminately, ergo we lose some of the good bacteria that help to fight off illnesses. That isn’t to say that antibiotics are bad in general, as some conditions like bronchitis will take too long to go away without the help of antibiotics because it’s too much for even your healthy bacteria to handle. In these cases, always seek the advice of a doctor.
So probiotics are a fairly useful supplement to take regularly, but do you really need them? And if you do, what are the signs that you should be taking them regularly? We’ll go over what to look for.
What Do Probiotics Help With?
Before going onto why you might need probiotics, let’s ask what probiotics do for us exactly. Probiotic, by supporting your gut’s microbiome, may help with the following:
- Supporting the formation of new blood vessels
- Destroying bad bacteria and toxins
- Metabolizing foreign substances
- Boosting the synthesizing of Vitamin K
- Making nutrient absorption more efficient
- Aiding digestion
- Boosting nerve function
Individually, these may seem small, but together, they help your body in ways you never knew possible. This is why it’s important to understand what you’re taking and how it aids you, as being more informed about your own body will keep it healthy in the long run.
You can also find probiotics in food as well. This includes yogurt, kefir, and kimchi.
The Signs
Here are some signs that probiotics will help your body stay healthy long term. Remember that some of these signs can be caused by larger health problems, so if you don’t see any results, a doctor’s visit may be the best option.
Breaking Out
As many already know, what you ingest can greatly affect your skin. When foods that are rich in fats, carbs, and calories are absorbed into your body, it can cause great amounts of acne. From here, it doesn’t take much problem solving to figure out how the health of your gut is directly connected to your complexion, including skin conditions like psoriasis , eczema, rashes, hives, and yes, acne. Most of these conditions are not caused by a poor diet, but it’s affected by your gut nonetheless.
Think of taking probiotics as healing your body from the inside instead of trying to work from the outside. Working on the health of your gut is also working on the health of your skin!
Bloating
When you’re bloating, it may be a sign that your gastrointestinal tract may be overwhelmingly full of bad bacteria, to the point where it’s outweighing the good. This can cause excess gas formed by the bad bacteria, making you bloat up. To get rid of the gas, you need to get rid of the bacteria causing it, and you can do that by supporting the good bacteria within your gut. There are quite a few over-the-counter probiotics that specifically provide the strains necessary to get all that gas out of your body. Speaking of.
Gassiness
If you’re finding yourself gassier than usual, it’s a side effect of the bad bacteria in your body. More gas equals more bloating and more chances of embarrassing moments in front of friends. Adding onto the bloating sign, both are caused by the bad bacteria not being able to properly ingest the food. This also isn‘t good because it means your body is getting less nutrients and minerals than you’re providing, which is the exact point of eating in the first place. That’s why probiotics are your friend.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is a sign of serious digestion issues, including the fact that water isn’t being absorbed into your body correctly. Not to mention, diarrhea can actually make your guy worse. Because everything is moving out at such a rapid pace and water isn’t being properly absorbed, it’s flushing out the bacteria you actually need. This is why diarrhea can take a bit of time to recover from. It’s a sign that your body may need some support from you.
Diarrhea isn’t the only digestive sign that your body needs help, as bad bacteria can also cause problems on the other side of the spectrum as well, like constipation.
Constipation
That’s right, you aren’t safe from either diarrhea OR constipation. Whereas diarrhea was a side effect of your body not absorbing enough water, this is the exact opposite, where digestion is a problem to the extent where food is moving through your GI tract at an agonizingly slow pace, causing too much water to be absorbed, and thus constipation. By having a healthy amount of good gut bacteria, you should be able to digest your food at a normal, steady rate. Not too fast, but also not too slow.
Feeling Sluggish/Poor Mood
One little known fact is that your gut is connected in some way to pretty much every part of your body. After all, your gut helps to nourish your body, so if your gut is affected, your entire body is affected. This includes your brain. While not all mental health problems are related to the state of your gut, there are underlying connections to smaller issues such as differences in mood. If you feel like you’re more tired, sluggish, or downtrodden than usual, you should consider taking probiotics, as a healthier gut can lead to a healthier mind. By taking probiotics, not only may you see the health benefits around your body in general, but you might find that you have an extra skip in your step than usual.
This should go without saying, but if you don’t find any changes and you continue to feel sluggish and down, you may need to seek the advice of a professional.
Getting Sick Constantly
If you’re the type to consistently get sick, and you know for sure that it’s not caused by a medical immunocompromising condition, you should think about taking probiotics. It’s a great way to give your immune system the real boost it needs. By being able to absorb the nutrients it needs, your body is rewarded through a healthier body and a more stable immune system. This way, you no longer have to take a couple days off of work because you catch the flu every month. You weren’t using that as an excuse though, were you?
Food Poisoning
So you’ve eaten something that wasn’t cooked thoroughly or was a bit too past the expiration date. That’s understandable. It happens to the best of us. While starting probiotics as soon as you suspect you’ve gotten food poisoning isn’t going to help anything since food poisoning passes in a day or so, it can help to mitigate the effects in the future. Food poisoning is caused by the spreading of bacteria on expired or uncooked food, such as salmonella. Taking probiotics makes sure there’s enough good bacteria to fight off the bad stuff. You may still get some symptoms, but it won’t be as bad as if you didn’t have enough good bacteria to begin with.
Lack of Sleep
I’m sure by now that you’ve heard of the term “serotonin”. It’s a chemical that helps to alter your mood, like oxytocin and dopamine. Well serotonin is also a chemical that aids in sleep. It’s formed primarily in the gut, believe it or not, and if your gut health is poor, then less serotonin is produced. This also cycles back to a poor mood.
Not to mention, a lack of sleep might make things even worse on your gut. See, a lack of sleep causes stress, which activates a stress response in your body. This, in turn, can lead to intestinal inflammation, which can also lead to bloating and excess gas. I’m sure you can see by now your gut health can essentially make a revolving domino effect, and if you already have a poor immune system, things aren’t going to go great.
Vaginal Infections
To my vagina-havers out there, we all know the tragedy of a vaginal infection. It’s not great, to say the least. However, if you’re starting to receive them on a regular basis, that is cause for concern. These infections can be caused by an imbalance of yeast and bacteria. Probiotics are a great way to slow down infections, as they can reduce that imbalance. There are specific probiotics that can help with vaginal pH, in fact, which is important because not all probiotics are the same, and some contain different strains for different problems. Make sure you’re getting the right kind so you can keep feeling great below the belt.
Hi, I’m Ashley! I help big-hearted spiritual individuals reach new levels of success, self love, and confidence.
