When you go to the grocery store in order to shop for daily essentials, you would see a large number of items that contain probiotics. It has been defined as a friendly microorganism that can be found in the form of a bacteria or yeast. You will be able to purchase probiotic chocolate, yogurt and granola bars from the market. It is even possible to get probiotic powders and supplements.
From various studies, it has been identified that probiotics are in a position to deliver a variety of benefits for the infants. If you are a parent, you need to look for the best probiotic for infants. In fact, the best probiotic for infant has the ability to deliver an array of health benefits for the little one.
You might feel that probiotics is the latest trend in the world. However, it is important to keep in mind that probiotics is nothing new and people have been consuming it for more than 100 years. Probiotics available out there in the market can be divided into two main categories as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. From the recent studies, it has been identified that these probiotics are not good for your health at all.
The benefits associated with Probiotics
- Probiotics have the potential to help you take control over blood pressure. This fact has been proven from a study published in the journal of American Heart Association.
- Probiotics can also help you to stay away from colorectal cancers. A study related to this area has been published on the BMC Surgery during 2012.
- Probiotics can be helpful when treating and preventing oral diseases such as halitosis, periodontal diseases and cavities.
- Probiotic therapy is being used to treat people who suffer from ASD.
- It can also assist you to stay away from rheumatoid arthritis by restricting the overgrowth of a bacterium in intestines.
Who should not take bacteria?
Some people will have to experience side effects after they take probiotics. Abdominal discomfort, bloating and gas are the most common side effects associated with it. These symptoms are temporary for most of the people. If you don’t have a robust immune system, you have a higher chance of getting these side effects. Therefore, people who are affected with a terminal illness such as HIV are strongly encouraged not to take probiotics.
The usage of probiotics is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration of United States. That’s because they have categorized probiotics as a food supplement. That’s the main reason why you can see probiotics as a common ingredient in many consumable products.
How to choose probiotics?
You can find probiotics in two different forms as:
- Live cultures (probiotic yogurt)
- Dormant (capsules)
First of all, you will have to determine what method you should follow in order to get the probiotics that you require. It would be better to go for foods that contain probiotics because they can deliver additional ingredients to you such as dietary fiber. If your main intention is just to get probiotics, you can purchase supplements. As you already know, probiotics are living organisms and the products containing them have expiry dates. You should pay special attention towards the expiry dates when you purchase probiotics. In addition, you need to be careful in order to purchase the products from a trusted site to avoid scams.