Gut health is not always top of mind or the most glamorous topic to discuss, but it’s one that I am passionate about! For those of you who don’t know a lot about probiotics, or those who want to learn more, I’ve put together 6 probiotic facts you may not already know about them:
- Probiotics are good, friendly or healthy bacteria similar to the existing beneficial bacteria found in your body’s digestive system.
- Living inside each of our digestive tracts are about 100 trillion different types of bacteria. In fact, about 7 pounds of our physical bodies are made up of bacteria that lives inside of our intestines.
- Probiotics are measured in CFU, “Colony Forming Units”, which measures the good, viable bacteria inside that’s capable of living and reproducing. There are different species of probiotics but typically, 500 million to 2 billion is a good daily range to look for if you want immunity and digestive support.
- Bacteria is vital to our overall health. Probiotics aid in digestion and absorption of vital nutrients and enzymes from the foods we consume.
- They help protect us against harmful compounds and they protect and support our immune system.
- Allow our body to use protein more efficiently. Probiotics help with the absorption of amino acids and therefore can increase the efficacy of proteins.