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Have you ever heard of probiotics? These are good bacteria that live in your gut. They play a key role in your overall health, offering various benefits for digestion, nutrient absorption, and strengthening the immune system. This article explores in detail probiotics, their function, and how they can improve your well-being.
Understanding probiotics and intestinal flora
Probiotics are living microorganisms, mainly bacteria, which, once ingested in sufficient quantities, have beneficial effects on the health of the host. The gut flora, or gut microbiota, is the microbial ecosystem punching our gastrointestinal tract. It's home to billions of these good bacteria.
However, various factors may unbalance this flora, such as the use of antibiotics or unbalanced and unhealthy eating habits. When this imbalance occurs, bad bacteria proliferate, outperforming good bacteria, causing a diversity of disease and weakening the immune system.
The benefits of probiotics
Probiotics offer several undeniable advantages, in particular:
Helps to digest lactose
Increases the absorption of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals
Improves digestion, regulates the gut, combats constipation and heartburn
Combats and prevents intestinal diseases, such as colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, intestinal inflammation, candidiasis, hemorrhoids and urinary tract infections
Strengthens the immune system, increasing the production of defence cells, called macrophages
Prevents the proliferation of bad bacteria in the gut
Prevents problems such as obesity, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, allergies and food intolerances
Developing a healthy intestinal flora
A healthy and diverse intestinal flora begins at birth, especially if the baby is born vaginally and is exclusively breast-milk-fed in the early life of the baby.
There are several food sources of probiotics:
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