It turns out, having the wrong kind of gut bacteria can affect more than just your gastrointestinal tract. While we understand probiotics role in digestion, aiding enzyme creation and food break down as well as discouraging foreign pathogens from taking root, scientists are still exploring what is probiotic’s relationship to other aspects of health, including mental health, gene expression, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and obesity.
What Is Probiotic’s Effect On Mental Chemistry?
Past studies found that when proper gut bacteria doesn’t form early on, it changes how the brain behaves, and could activate certain genes. Stress, anxiety, and autism are all linked with having ill-formed colonies of probiotics. Mice, the test subjects, improved when given good probiotics like Lactobacillus bacteria.
What Is Probiotic’s Effect On Obesity?
Now, having small colonies or the wrong strains of probiotcs is tied to some forms of obesity, causing the body to take more calories from food. The stomach bacteria found in obese people was also tied to an urge to eat more, meaning that weight problem could be beyond your willpower!
Type 1 Diabetes: How Might Probiotics Help?
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, and several changes occur in the body before onset. One change is a reduction in probiotic colonies in the gut.
Further research has revealed that C. leptum may specifically aid in reducing Type 1 Diabetes risk, although research is ongoing, and this is only speculation on future treatment.
Beyond Digestion-What Is Probiotics Doing?
Multiple Sclerosis has now been tied to (what’s believed to be) the wrong sort of probiotics. Mice bred to have a similar disease only triggered having Multiple Sclerosis after bacteria were introduced. Which are the bad ones? Further studies are being done.
Yogurt and other fermented foods are good probiotics sources, and have health benefits beyond digestion and potential serious illnesses. Probiotic colonies can be diminished by stress, medicine like antibiotics, and acidic diets.
For a vegan source of probiotics, try a probiotic supplement.
What other things have you found probiotics good for?
