In order to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle, it is very important that you have a proper and well-balanced diet. It is also important that you have all the good things to eat and forget about the bad ones. Talking about good foods, experts say that whatever you have, it should have the right amount of roughage, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and carbs. It is true that digesting all of these together will not be a simple task. Thus, it is crucial that you also take good care of your gut. This is why people are recommended to have probiotics.
What Do You Mean by Probiotics?
Probiotics has been defined by The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics as live microorganisms, which prove to offer a health benefit if consumed in the right quantities. It will not be wrong to consider probiotics as gut-friendly bacteria that are normally found in drinks, foods, and health supplements. These bacteria are quite similar to the microorganisms that are found in the human body.
There are several types of probiotics or you may say species of bacteria. Each of these microorganisms act in a different way inside the human body. This has been stated by the NCCIH or the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Take the example of Lactobacillus, which is a probiotic species. It can easily encourage your brain to produce more GABA or gamma-aminobutyric acid. It is basically a neurotransmitter that can control depression or anxiety.
On the other hand, Bifidobacterium helps to promote the production of butyrate. This is the primary food that the human colon cells utilize for energy. Butyrate is also responsible for regulating the human body’s response to insulin, as a result of which, you can easily maintain a healthy blood sugar level.
The Best Time to Have Probiotics
You will hear the experts at Probiotics Review recommend you have probiotics in an empty stomach. For the majority of you this will mean consuming probiotics first thing in the morning after waking up. It will also not be a bad idea to have probiotics just before you go to sleep. In order to remember that you need to have probiotics before going to bed, keep it by your bedside.
Most of you may wonder why consume probiotics in an empty stomach. The primary goal here is to ensure proper delivery of the probiotics to the large intestine tract. To be more specific, it is to ensure that between 5 and 100 billion colony-forming units are sent to the large intestine. This is usually the part of the body where microorganisms provide the maximum benefits. If you have already eaten your food, your stomach will automatically become more acidic. This can easily limit the number of colony-forming units that ultimately reach the final destination.
It is very important that you check the dosage instructions, since this may affect when it is best to take the probiotic. According to some research, it is always best to consume probiotic either with or just after a meal. According to a study, uncoated probiotic supplements should be consumed either with or before a meal that may contain fat. This is because fats help to keep the stomach less acidic. As a result of this, more bacteria from the probiotic will be able to survive for long and also make it to the intestine.
At the same time, probiotics that are spore-based are to be consumed with foods. These probiotics are in their spore form, due to which they are not affected by the harsh acidic environments of the stomach, which is normal after having food. These types of probiotics can hitchhike with the food to the large intestine. There have also been studies that prove that these types of probiotics perform the best when consumed with foods.
If you are on any type of antibiotics, do not make the mistake of having the medicine with probiotics at the same time. It will just enhance the risk of killing all the good bacteria from the probiotics. If you have had your antibiotics, make sure to give a gap of around two hours before you decide to have your probiotics. At the same time, if you are on any form of medication that asks you to avoid food with the medicine, such as your thyroid medicine, better keep the probiotics away from such drugs as well. Since consuming good bacteria is for your own good, having them with antibiotics makes no sense at all as the medicine will simply spoil the effects of the bacteria.
