Probiotics have been promoted as a supplement to help gut health and improve immune function. They are consumed for a variety of reasons and by different populations, from athlete to traveler.
What is it?
Probiotics are are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for you, especially your digestive system.
What are the benefits to supplementation?
Probiotics have been shown to help gut health and immune function. Health benefits can be strain and dose dependent. The main function of the gut is to digest food and absorb nutrients (1). In athletic populations, certain probiotics strains can increase absorption of key nutrients (1) . Thus, they can be taken especially after competition and training to ensure the body absorbs nutrients needed for recovery to heal and get ready for the next game. Probiotics can be key for travelers as they help fight off uncomfortable digestive disorders. Probiotics contain friendly bacteria, which occur naturally in our gut. They interact with the body’s immune cells to maintain healthy gut. Recent meta-analysis showed that supplementation has been able to prevent traveler’s diarrhea (3).
How much should I consume?
Strain and dose dependent on the specific health benefit you are looking for. Supplements based for athletics are commonly 15-20 billion CFU (check Thorne or Klean). Those for general population are much more wide ranging.
Other Benefits
Other benefits include reduction of serum cholesterol, cancer prevention, antihypertensive effects and improvement of lactose metabolism (3).
References
1. Jäger, R., Mohr, A.E., Carpenter, K.C. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 16, 62 (2019).
2. McFarland, L. V. (2005). Meta-analysis of probiotics for the prevention of traveler's diarrhea. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 5(2), 97–105. https://doi.org/0.1016/j.tmaid.2005.10.003.
3. Shi, L. H., Balakrishnan, K., Thiagarajah, K., Mohd Ismali, N. I., & Shao Yin, O. (2016). Beneficial Properties of Probiotics. Tropical Life Sciences Research, 27(2), 73–90. https://doi.org/https://dx.doi.org/10.21315%2Ftlsr2016.27.2.6
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