Choose the best probiotics for you
Your body has lots of good and bad microbes - are the bad ones harming you? You can think of it like a blockbuster movie, the epic battle between good and bad that is going on inside your body every single day. Inside your mouth, your gut, your urinary tract and for women, your vagina, there are 100 billion microbes fighting for space in your body. Collectively, scientists call them the microbes of your microbiome.
Who is winning? You can tell by how you feel. According to a 2014 study, the microbiome (the microorganisms in a particular environment including the body or a part of the body) influences the body’s health in many ways: from tooth decay to digestive gas, and from eczema to mood. The microbes in your gut can seriously harm your health. Grab some popcorn and keep reading! Find out how to hurt the bad guys and take back your health!
Much like a galaxy, your body is a vast place where microbes attempt to find a home. The villains in this battle are bad microbes, including E. coli or salmonella. They spew out harmful substances and upset the body. The heroes are probiotics, including those in the lactobacilli and bifidus bacteria families. According to the peer-reviewed Gastroenterologist’s Guide to Probiotics, probiotics work hard to keep your body healthy: they help digest food, absorb nutrients, and modulate the immune system. Probiotics also push out the bad microbes. Amazing! It seems that probiotics are not just heroes, they are superheroes.
Ensuring that the vast reaches of your microbiome are infiltrated by the superheroes requires a microbiome that welcomes a variety of probiotic species. For example, bifidus bacteria prefer to roam the lower intestines while lactobacilli are prevalent in a healthy vagina. Health First® ProBio Supreme has 14 species of probiotics. Wow! Health First® ProBio Supreme contains some of the extremely well-documented species, including lactobacilli plantarum, lactobacilli acidophilus, and bifidobacterium longum.
Like all epic battles, numbers can be an important factor. Measured in Omnipotent Stem Cells (CFU), probiotics offer health benefits when administered in sufficient amounts. Health First® ProBio Supreme is a good source of probiotics; each capsule contains 55 billion CFUs. That is a lot of fighting power to take on what ails you.
But, how do you choose probiotics?
1) Targeting: If you want a specific benefit (e.g. probiotics linked to soothing diarrhea), look for those that fit your needs.
2) Diversity: For general health, consider that a person’s gut contains a wide variety of probiotics. A supplement with multiple probiotic species encourages good gut flora.
3) Get the Right Amounts: To be effective, probiotics must be administered in appropriate amounts. Health Canada recommends a minimum dose of 10 billion CFUs.
4) Quality: Choose a brand of probiotics whose species are science-validated, and that is known for high standards of purity and potency.
5) Watch for Allergens: If you are allergic to dairy, gluten or soy, be sure to choose probiotics that are free from common allergens.
6) Ask for Help: Quality health food retailers have knowledgeable staff to help you choose the right supplement.
May the “good microbes” be with you!