Benefits to the Gut:
Generally when we refer to the ‘gut’ as a collective we tend to think of our abdominal area only. However, the gastro-intestinal tract or GI tract actually begins in the mouth and ends at the exit point, the anus. For our purposes let’s focus on the small intestine and large intestine since that’s where the majority of probiotics have their most beneficial effects.
In the whole GI tract there are over 100 000 billion bacteria. Different species in different numbers populate the gut. This is why it can be beneficial to change your probiotic on occasion because there is so much variety.
This helps us understand why giving a probiotic or eating fermented foods makes a difference, because there’s enough to replenish and encourage growth of good bacteria. Also, the small intestine is approximate 20 feet long, so it houses about 95% of the bacteria that live in our intestines. The large intestine on the other hand is only 4 feet long, but because things are moving much slower through the large intestine the bacteria layer in the mucosa can be up to 200 cells thick, compared to 1 cell thick in the small intestine.
Benefits of Probiotics
Infants and Probiotics:
Atopic conditions like eczema have become much more of a problem over the past few decades in children. In some of the studies they looked at if intervening with probiotics at an early age could reduce the incidence of atopic conditions. The outcome of most of these interventions was either a moderate or significant reduction in symptoms of atopic skin issues.
Probiotics and Antibiotics:
More people are aware these days that we should take probiotics when we take an antibiotic. One of the downsides of an antibiotic is that it kills all bacteria; it doesn’t distinguish between types of bacteria. Therefore antibiotics have an overall impact on the ‘good’ bacteria as well, and one of the best ways to help replenish those bacteria is to use a probiotic. Studies have shown that taking a probiotic following an antibiotic helps to reduce dysbiosis, which is an imbalance or overgrowth of bacteria in the gut.
Gut/Brain connection:
One of the newer areas of study that’s been getting a good deal of attention is the impact that a healthy gut can have on our mood. More studies are coming out showing a positive impact of probiotics and healing the gut on issues such as depression, and anxiety.