Why do we need probiotics? The benefits of probiotics beyond the gut

The balance of bacteria in your gut - known as your gut microbiota - can impact more than just your digestion. It can also affect your mood, energy, skin, joints, metabolism, sleep, immune function, hormone balance, and thyroid health.

When your gut bacteria becomes imbalanced, not only your gut health can get knocked out of whack, but all of the above too. An imbalance can be a result of too much ‘bad’ bacteria, when you have an infection for example, or simply not having optimal amounts and types of the ‘good’ bacteria due to an unhealthy diet or consuming too many antibiotics. Probiotics can help balance the gut microbiota by fighting off bad gut bacteria and supporting the good gut bacteria. This can help balance these symptoms and conditions and improve your overall health.

What are probiotics?

Probiotics are living microorganisms (live bacteria and yeast) that naturally live in your body and benefit your health! They provide beneficial bacteria that help reduce inflammation and support your immunity and digestion.

For a microorganism to be called a probiotic, it must have several characteristics. These include being able to:

Be isolated from a human
Survive in your intestines after being eaten
Have a proven benefit to you
Be safely consumed

Why do we need probiotics?

The main ways probiotics support your gut and overall health are by:

Increasing the bacterial diversity and health of your gut microbiota, encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria
Fighting bad gut bacteria
Promoting faster recovery from imbalances in your gut microbiota, known as dysbiosis
Promoting a healthy immune system
Reducing gut inflammation
Reducing leaky gut, aka damage to your gut lining
Helping with digestion
Producing important vitamins

Why do we need probiotics for our immune system?

Poor gut health can lead to an overactive immune response, which is when your immune system starts attacking things it shouldn't. This is partly because most of the immune cells in your entire body, roughly 70%, live in your small intestine.

Your gut bacteria play a major role in training your immune system and helping it function properly, so it's important to keep it in check.

Why do we need probiotics for inflammation?

An overactive immune system produces high levels of inflammation. This inflammation causes numerous problems, as most health problems are linked to inflammation of some sort. Some of these include:

Fatigue
Low mood
Brain fog
Insomnia
Acne or other skin conditions
Female hormone imbalances
Male hormone imbalances
Hypothyroid symptoms
Immune system dysregulation and autoimmunity

So by improving your gut health with probiotics and reducing inflammation, you might be able to fix some other issues too!

Why do we need probiotics for nutrient absorption?

This inflammation can also damage the gut lining, which then impacts nutrient absorption. If you're eating a healthy diet but not adequately absorbing the nutrients, it can be similar to eating an unhealthy diet.

Ultimately, you are what you eat, but you are also what you absorb. When we understand this, it helps us to appreciate the wide reaching impact our gut health has. We can make connections between these core fundamentals (immune function, inflammation, and nutrient absorption) and certain symptoms.

Probiotic benefits

The most common uses and scientifically supported benefits of probiotics are for:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Improving symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation and abdominal pain
Irritable Bowel Disease: Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis
Mood: Depression and anxiety
Gut microbiota imbalance: SIBO, H. pylori, candida/fungus, pathogens
Leaky gut

Less common but encouraging scientifically supported reasons we need of probiotics are for:

Cognition
Sleep
Thyroid health
Autoimmune conditions
Metabolism
Blood pressure and cholesterol

Summary

We all need probiotics for a variety of different reasons, but the impact of probiotics on our gut microbiota cannot be overstated. It’s essential to make sure we get enough probiotics and that our gut bacteria are balanced. An imbalance, or dysbiosis, can have a number of health implications that aren’t necessarily limited to our gut.