In the World of Women’s Health, you may hear the recommendation of adding probiotics for women into their daily regimen, but what are Probiotics? Simply put, they are living microorganisms that reside in your gut and provide a multitude of health benefits, not all bacteria make you sick.
One reason that you may need to add probiotics into your diet is because modern living can negatively impact on your microbiome and therefore a little outside assistance may be needed.
Function of Probiotics
Probiotics have a vast influence on women’s health. Probiotics can help with the immune system, digestive system, women’s reproductive systems, mental health, and brain function.
Women are often looking for the best ways to improve the health of their bodies as they age, Brain health also comes into this category. A positive first step is to maintain and reinforce healthy gut bacteria through the implementation of specialized probiotics for women health.
Who would’ve thought that a healthy gut would be so crucial in various areas of the body? Physicians that specialize in gastroenterology, gynecology, and psychiatry often recommend probiotics to their patients. Although the connection between the gut and mental illness has been a less familiar subject when talking about probiotics, it is being more readily acknowledged that all systems in the body are connected. What affects one part of the body can potentially affect other parts of the body.
The impact that an unhealthy diet, environmental toxins, stress, and hygiene habits can have on your body is also now more widely recognized. A lifestyle change that incorporates healthy eating habits and stress reduction techniques can be more beneficial that you realize. The levels of stress impact mental focus and clarity as well as the digestive system. If you can pause for a moment and recall a time that stress gave you upset stomach, then you would realize that there is a connection.
There are many techniques that are used for stress reduction; meditation, sleep, and yoga to mention a few. The supplementation of probiotics is a great beginning to changing your lifestyle and living a healthy life.
Probiotics for Mental Health
The bacteria that are in the gut produce chemicals, including neurotransmitters such as serotonin, melatonin, and acetylcholine, that may directly impact brain function. A study published in the General Psychiatry Journal, in 2019 showed that probiotics for women could help those who are experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms. Brain imaging has shown changes in the areas of the brain that involved mood.
The bacteria that are in the gut produce chemicals, including neurotransmitters such as serotonin, melatonin, and acetylcholine, that may directly impact brain function. A study published in the General Psychiatry Journal, in 2019 showed that probiotics for women could help those who are experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms. Brain imaging has shown changes in the areas of the brain that involved mood.
Having Healthy Gut Bacteria
Healthy gut bacteria doesn’t just aid in digestion, but also helps
- Regulate immunity,
- Hormone balance,
- Stabilizing metabolism,
- Detoxification,
- Emotional health.
If you tend to get sick often, a probiotic may be the addition that you need to boost your immune system.
Eating foods that contain probiotics can help your body to produce vitamins and enzymes that help keep your digestive system happy.
Probiotics help support the function of the bacteria within the gut. The bacterial components also contribute to our health by producing vitamins, such as biotin, vitamin K, folate, and B12. These vitamins are essential for bone health among other things. Probiotics have a definitive role in digestion, allowing us to break down and absorb important nutrients. Nutrients such as magnesium, iron, copper, and calcium.
Consuming foods that contain probiotics or adding specific probiotics for women, can potentially influence the ageing process. It is no surprise that as you age, you lose the ability to maintain optimal vitamin and mineral levels. Having the help of probiotics to assist your body to produce and maintain nutrient levels is an easy step to achieve overall health.
Some studies have revealed higher levels of bifido bacteria in the microbiome of elderly patients who have reached their late 90s and older.
Women's Probiotics for Weight Loss
Although probiotics are not guaranteed to make you lose weight, it has been proven that the balance between good and bad bacteria can affect body weight.
Probiotics for women may help weight loss by aiding in the release of Glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) which is a hormone related to your body’s ability to burn calories. They also influence Angiopoietin Like 4 (ANGPTL4), which is shown to decrease the storage of fat cells. New research has shown that including specific strains of probiotics into your diet may boost your metabolism and aid in burning fat
Specific probiotics may also help reduce belly fat and bloating.
The number of bad bacteria in the gut can attribute to conditions such as leaky gut, type 2 diabetes, and chronic inflammation. The addition of probiotics is aiding in the fight to add good bacteria to the mix.
There are many species of probiotics, such as Bifidobacterium, that can aid in weight loss by helping digest fiber and other carbs. Probiotics may survive better by eating them on an empty stomach when the acids in the stomach are at their lowest. Having prebiotic fiber in the diet along with specific probiotics also help feed the healthy bacteria and encourage them to flourish.
Vaginal PH Balance
Probiotics for women can play an important role in regulating and maintaining vaginal health. Maintaining a slightly acidic environment within the vagina can reduce bacteria overgrowth that might be proven to be harmful. It is significant for women as there is a multitude of events that can negatively impact the vaginal climate. Using antibiotics, oral birth control, and even spermicides change the climate and pH balance in the vagina. Healthy gut bacteria can help regulate hormones which has a positive affect on the female reproductive system.
Best Probiotic for Yeast Infection
Probiotics for women can ward off a variety of issues by balancing the vaginal microbiome. The most common conditions are vaginal yeast infections, urogenital infections, and bacterial vaginosis. When the microbiome is irregular, it can contribute to the not so fun symptoms of a any of these conditions.
The potential overgrowth of Candida is what we know as a yeast infection. Candida is a normal microbiota fungus that lives inside the vagina, yeast infections are what happens when this fungus grows a little too much. Probiotics for Candida have been used for centuries as our ancestors have used yogurt containing Lactobacillus as a treatment method. Although this was an effective method for the treatment of Candida, the times have changed and probiotics for Candida are available in capsules and suppositories.
Probiotics During Pregnancy
Taking specific probiotics for women during times when you are trying to conceive, are pregnant, or postnatal is recommended as part of healthy nutrition. Probiotics can help provide relief from morning sickness, nausea, constipation, heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea, and much more. Probiotics have shown evidence for having positive effects after birth and for babies.
Since babies receive their nutritional levels from their mothers, it is essential to start them off on a good path of having healthy microbiome. Babies receive their gut flora from the womb, being born as they pass through the birth canal, and from breastfeeding.
The National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health both categorize probiotics as safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Best Probiotics Choices for Women
The most important probiotics for Women’s Health include:
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus is the most common probiotic for Women. It colonizes the intestine and vagina. It can improve digestive health, mood, and help in maintaining healthy body weight.
- Lactobacillus reuteri helps to maintain thyroid health and a healthy gut. It produces vitamin B12 that is associated with helping stabilize vagina pH levels.
- Lactobacillus fermentum is beneficial for maintaining vaginal and immune health. New evidence shows that it can also aid with mood and cognitive function.
- Lactobacillus gasseri helps maintain healthy body weight.
- Bifidobacterium lactis is excellent for maintaining digestive health and can help relieve constipation.
In selecting a probiotic for women, you should look for products that contain a variety of different bacterial species but not too many. The potency is essential and should have a high CFU content. The ideal dose in .50 billion CFU. The product should have a reasonable expiry date should be gluten-free, and soy-free. Dairy- free probiotics are also available if you have a dairy allergy.
There are a variety of foods that can be introduced into the diet that contain probiotics. Yogurt has been a popular product that provides a good source of probiotics. The less common foods include sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi, miso, kombucha, pickles, and certain cheeses such as mozzarella, cheddar, and cottage cheese.
The use of antibiotics can deplete the good bacteria in our bodies. That is why it is imperative only to take antibiotics when you need them for a bacterial infection instead of a cold virus.
Womens Probiotics Conclusions
Our bodies are impacted by the food we consume and the environmental toxins that are constantly around us. We might not have as much control over the environment as we would like, but we have all the power when it comes to what we put into our bodies.
Through developing and maintaining a healthy gut, we are taking the first step towards overall health. The connection between or body and mind is strong and deserves our attention. Probiotics attribute to so much more the healthy gut flora. By adding daily probiotics for Women to a health regimen, you can achieve a significant improvement in your mood, sleep quality, and your physical health.
