What are Probiotics and How Can They Benefit You?

Did you know that you’re made up of more bacteria cells than human cells? It’s true. This means it’s absolutely vital to nourish these cells to sustain good health. Today, however, our beneficial bacteria levels are threatened by substances like antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides, even birth control, and other powerful medications, inflammatory and toxic foods, and stress. Since a large majority of this bacteria lies within our digestive tract, that means in order to not only have good digestion but good overall health, we need to take good care of our guts. And considering the fact that about 80 percent of our immune cells lie in or around our digestive tract, we also need happy bacteria in order to have a strong immune system.​

Dysbiosis, which is a microbial imbalance often caused by low probiotic counts, an imbalance of good to bad bacteria, a bacterial infection, or all the above, has been linked to digestive disorders, autoimmune diseases (i.e. rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes, etc.), and even eczema.

As the wise physician and founder of medicine, Hippocrates stated, “All disease begins in the gut”. We’ll add that all health can begin in the gut, too, if you treat it right.

This is where probiotics come in.

One of the best ways to nurture the beneficial bacteria, probiotics are gut bacteria that help your body produce and absorb nutrients and fight infection.

Probiotics have been shown to improve dysbiosis as well as irritable bowel syndrome, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and vaginal and urinary infections in women. There is also new evidence that probiotics may be able to help with autism, weight loss, depression and anxiety, neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and other seemingly non-gut related conditions.

Here at Pioneer Health Center, we understand the importance of a healthy gut microbiome, which is why we carry many oral probiotics as well as probiotic suppositories. Our pharmacist is certified in functional medicine, so we are able to get the best researched and quality line probiotics for our clients that aren’t always available at other locations.

If you have a hunch your beneficial bacteria levels are off and would like to get tested and work with a certified expert in this field to get your probiotic count up and digestion improved, consider joining The Pioneer Assessment program, where you’ll go through a 4-month Heal Your Gut program, run lab tests and get direct guidance from our functional medicine expert and founder, Gene Gresh.