Probiotic Supplement- do you really need it?

Probiotic is a type of 'good' bacteria which helps in digestion and protects your body from 'bad' bacteria. 
Prebiotic is non-digestible carbohydrate which acts as nutrient for probiotic to survive. 
Probiotic and prebiotic are a combination which benefit each other. For example, fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir, contain live bacteria (probiotic) and the fuel (prebiotic: lactose, fruits) they need to thrive.

There are many types of bacteria which are classified as probiotics, but majority strains are originated from two groups:

1. Lactobacillus: This is the most common probiotic which can be found in yogurt and other fermented foods. Different strains can help with diarrhea and may help with people who can't digest lactose (milk sugar).

2. Bifidobacterium: Can be found in some dairy products. It may help ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and some other conditions.

Studies have shown that probiotics can help in:

• Treat diarrhea, especially after taking certain antibiotics
• Treat irritable bowel syndrome
• Speed treatment of certain intestinal infections
• Prevent or reduce the severity of colds and flu
• Ease allergic disorders such as eczema and hay fever

There is also some research that shows they're useful for some other problems such as:

• Skin conditions, like eczema
• Urinary and vaginal health
• Oral health

Sources of probiotics:

BUT DO WE REALLY NEED PROBIOTIC SUPPLEMENT?🤔🤔🤔

There are only two or three times in most of our lives that we need to consider buying probiotics supplement. 

One is if we’re using a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics kill bad bacteria and also good bacteria. So it’s good to use probiotics during antibiotic therapy and usually one to two weeks after therapy in order to repopulate the good bacteria in our gastrointestinal tracts. 

Another reason for using probiotics is if you’ve had a severe illness like a flu or a food-borne illness in which you’re really sick with bad diarrhea and vomiting, which can sometimes affect the body’s intestinal microflora. Taking some probiotics after a bad flu or food-borne illness is ideal too.

For most of us, short-term use of probiotic products is all we would ever need.