Bacteria are at the base of each person’s digestive health. There are good and bad bacterias, diverse and undiverse gut microbiomes, and thousands of factors that produce each. Today lots of people have weak digestive systems, as many as 72% of Americans experience digestive distress symptoms regularly. 

Our Digestive Systems Need Help

So what does that look like? There are obvious factors such as upset stomachs, diarrhea, and constipation. Although there are less obvious factors like bloating, heartburn, rapid weight fluctuation without a notable cause. Pushed far enough a negative digestive system will even start to lead to disease and illness.

In understanding how to solve any of these potential symptoms, it’s important to understand where they come from. Each person has a gut microbiome. This is a system where trillions of bacteria work to process and digest all that enters the body. It’s when this system is compromised that problems start to arise.

This typically comes from a lack of good or a lack of diverse bacteria entering the gut. Overly processed, sugary, and pesticide-treated foods tend to produce negative bacteria. This makes it harder for more diverse bacteria to grow. A lack of movement, lack of sunshine, or obvious factors like illness also all work to do the same. 

Solutions for Digestive Health

This makes the solutions to digestive problems seem fairly simple, and luckily, they are. Put the time and effort into eating healthy, unprocessed foods, working out, spending time outside. These will all start to improve the gut microbiome. These are the same solutions to just about every health issue though, and they’re not always the easiest to achieve.

Regardless of if someone is working too much, can’t afford high quality food, maybe even has a long-term illness, there are many reasons it can be hard to live a positive lifestyle. It’s important to always be working towards these lifestyle solutions, but sometimes supplements and more practical solutions can also be helpful.

The Role of Probiotics

Probiotics are the most useful of the more direct and less lifestyle based solutions. Probiotics are bacteria that will enter the microbiome of a person and colonize the digestive tract to produce more positive and diverse bacteria. These are naturally found in fermented foods like cheese, yogurt, and kombucha, but they’re also now being made into more effective supplements.

These supplements will strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation, stop the growth of negative bacteria, stimulate positive bacteria, and effectively interact with every part of the body. They’re shown to be effective in reducing several forms of diarrhea, clostridium difficile infections, and all the day to day digestive issues people tend to feel.

Probiotics supplements also have promising evidence showing that they can help in the treatment of allergies, metabolic disorders, respiratory tract infections, and UTI’s. The overarching health effects of a strong digestive system are even predicted to help with depression and chemotherapy. 

In Closing

Probiotics are not perfect or immutable. They affect everyone differently, can be dangerous to those who are immunocompromised, and should not be used as an excuse to live and eat unhealthily. Instead, they should be used to promote long term health and positive internal systems. Digestive issues are widespread in the modern world and the means to solving those solutions need to be understood.