You’ve probably heard the term probiotics before, but you might not know what they are or whether they’re actually good for you. Probiotics are bacteria that can be found in a lot of fermented foods and they help to maintain a healthy balance in your gut. Recent studies into gut health have found that it actually has a big knock on effect on your overall physical and mental health, so looking after your gut is important. If you add probiotics to your diet, they can help to improve your health in these different ways.
Improved Digestion
A lot of people experience digestive issues and that’s often down to the amount of processed foods that are in our diet. The additives in processed foods can upset the balance of bacteria in your gut and lead to digestive issues. Stress is another big contributor because that can upset your gut as well. If you’re experiencing a lot of digestive issues and you’re worried about your gut health, you should consider getting some probiotic supplements from a company like Hundred and add them to your diet. Trying to remove some of the processed foods from your diet and replace them with probiotic rich foods like yoghurt or sourdough bread will be a big help as well.
Treating Mental Health Issues
Finding ways to combat mental health issues is so important right now because there are so many people struggling. A lot of new studies have found a strong link between gut health and mental health. Poor mental health can impact your gut but it goes both ways and poor gut health can make mental health issues more severe. Adding probiotics to your diet isn’t going to tackle mental health issues entirely and you need to seek other treatments but it can help.
Improved Heart Health
Heart health is a big deal for a lot of us, especially if you’re not active. People that work in an office job, for example, don’t move around a lot and that means that they might not have a healthy heart when they get older. There are other things that you can do like desk exercises to stay healthy, but probiotics could also help to keep your heart healthy. It’s not a replacement for regular exercise but probiotics have been shown to break down cholesterol and improve your heart health.
Stronger Immune System
If you get sick a lot, it’s probably because you have a weak immune system that doesn’t fight illnesses very effectively. There are quite a few ways to boost your immune system but your diet is one of the best. Eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables is important because it provides your body with all of the right nutrients, but probiotics also have a big role to play. Probiotics can promote the production of antibodies that help to fight off diseases so you’re less likely to get sick.
There is still a lot of research going into probiotics but gut health is very important and they can really help you with it.