Why Should I Take a Probiotic?

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Why Should I Take a Probiotic?

Written by Dr. Sandra Miranda, ND

If you are experiencing digestive problems along with some discomfort, you could have an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. Some patients tend to overlook their digestive tract problems and just get used to feeling gassy and bloated all the time.  But if these problems are not corrected then they can lead to more serious health concerns and hormonal imbalances. Our gut is the root cause of many health problems –so please pay attention to your digestive discomfort. 

Some health problems that are caused by an imbalance of bacteria include: 

* An unhealthy digestive flora – This can be caused by the overgrowth of the yeast candida. This can also result in a weakness in the gut membrane. Healthy gut by-products will then be produced which helps to keep the intestinal lining strong, but without enough good bacteria, the intestinal tract becomes highly vulnerable to damage. This will then lead to inflammation, which can result in an ulceration. This will destroy the mucosal lining of the intestinal wall.  With time this creates liver toxicity and hormonal imbalances.

  • Hard time losing weight – in a study done with 2 twin sisters – one obese and the other thin. They implanted their gut bacteria is healthy mice (from each one of the sisters). Without changing the mice’s diet or activity level, they found that the mouse who received the gut bacteria from the thin sister had no change in its weight but the mouse who received the gut bacteria from the obese sister started gaining weight for no reason. Fix your gut flora and you will have an easier time losing weight.

* Bacterial vaginosis – A woman’s vagina has a natural occurrence of bacteria, but there is an even mixture of good and bad. When that bacteria is disrupted and the mixture between the good and bad bacteria is uneven, it causes bacterial vaginosis. 

Approximately 16% of expecting mothers have bacterial vaginosis. Some women who have bacterial vaginosis don’t have any symptoms. But the women who do have symptoms may experience discharge with a strong and foul odor, vaginal discharge that may be white or gray in color, vaginal itchiness, a painful or burning sensation when urinating, and/or vaginal odor that is very strong, and with a fishy smell after sex. 

If bacterial vaginosis is left untreated, it can lead to more serious illnesses. These include:

1. Pelvic inflammatory disease – This is an inflammation of the female reproduction system. This includes the uterus, fallopian tubes, and the ovaries. Pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to many difficulties, including ectopic pregnancy and infertility. 

2. Pregnancy complications – Many expecting mothers have had underweight babies because of bacterial vaginosis. It is also known to cause premature ruptures of the membrane which means that your water breaks too early. 

3. A greater chance at getting a sexually transmitted disease – Women who are infected by bacterial vaginosis have a greater chance at contracting HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. 

4. Increased risk of infection – There is a greater chance that after surgery, women affected by bacterial vaginosis may develop an infection afterwards. Those infections typically attack the reproductive system.

Take care of your body. There are ways to prevent these health problems from happening. Taking probiotics will help. My favorite probiotic to recommend is Wise XS Probiotic.  It is available in amazon.ca – here is the link!

It is an extra strength (100 billion bacteria per capsule) and enteric coated (which means that the capsule only open in your gut so that the bacteria is not lost in your stomach acid) this ensure 100% bacteria delivery to the gut where it needs to go.  Bacterial imbalances happen when taking antibiotics, but probiotics can help erase the bad effects from taking antibiotics.

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