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The Amazing Health Benefits Of Probiotics For Diabetics

Healthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes The Health Benefits Of Probiotics For Diabetics

Ok, so there I was researching some information the other day for a particular blog post, and I came across an article pertaining to probiotics.  The fact that I’m not great at multi-tasking, I was immediately side tracked and became submerged in the world of probiotics an all their amazing health benefits.  So what are these little gems all about?  How do we go about getting them in our diet?  What about other alternatives to increasing the amount that we get?  Lets take a closer look! 

 

Well, first off, what are probiotics? Probiotics are microorganisms—such as bacteria, viruses and yeasts—that can be seen only under a microscope and that are often referred to as “healthy” or “good” bacteria.  According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and defined by the World Health Organization, probiotics are “live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host”.   The benefits of incorporating probiotics into one’s diet have been widely speculated, as little evidence exists to support the long-term health benefits.  Despite the lack of formal evidence, the probiotic trend has swept the health and diet industries for their potential cleansing benefits, immune boosting powers and nutritional value.

Benefits Of Probiotics:

Probiotics are believed to protect us in two ways.  The first is the role is how probiotics play in our digestive tract. We know that our digestive tract needs a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria, so what gets in the way of this?  It looks like our lifestyle is both the problem and the solution.  Foods high in probiotics (Kombucha, Kefir, pickles, tempeh, just to name a few)  are an amazing way to start getting more into your system, but poor food choices, emotional stress, lack of sleep, antibiotic overuse, other drugs, and environmental influences can all shift the balance in favor of the bad bacteria.

When the digestive tract is healthy, it filters out and eliminates things that can damage it, such as harmful bacteria, toxins, chemicals, and other waste products.  On the flip side, it takes in the things that our body needs (nutrients from food and water) and absorbs and helps deliver them to the cells where they are needed.

The idea is not to kill off all of the bad bacteria.  Our body does have a need for the bad ones and the good ones.  The problem is when the balance is shifted to have more bad than good.  An imbalance has been associated with diarrhea, urinary tract infections, muscle pain, and fatigue.

The other way that probiotics help is the impact that they have on our immune system.  Some believe that this role is the most important.  Our immune system is our protection against germs.  When it doesn’t function properly, we can suffer from allergic reactions, autoimmune disorders (for example, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis), and infections (for example, infectious diarrhea, Helicobacter pylori, skin infections, and vaginal infections).  By maintaining the correct balance from birth, the hope would be to prevent these ailments.  Our immune system can benefit anytime that balanced is restored, so it’s never too late.

 Probiotics, Urinary Health & Obesity:

Research has shown that probiotics make a nice compliment to antibiotics among people who suffer from urinary tract infections.

What’s more, there’s emerging evidence that regular probiotics can help prevent bad bacteria from invading the urinary tract by maintaining a population of healthy bacteria on the tract’s adherence sites.

Infections of the urinary tract are extremely common, especially in women. Most infections disappear with antibiotics, but about 30 to 40 percent might return, according to literature from the University of Maryland Medical Center.

It should also be noted that In 2006, Stanford University researchers found that obese people had different gut bacteria than normal-weighted people, a first indication that gut flora plays a role in overall weight.

Some preliminary research shows that probiotics can help obese people who have received weight loss surgery to Healthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes The Health Benefits Of Probiotics For Diabetics maintain weight loss. And in a study of postpartum women who were trying to lose abdominal fat, the addition of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium capsules helped reduce waist circumference.

Side effects are rare, and most healthy adults can safely add foods that contain probiotics to their diet.  If you’re considering taking supplements, in particular probiotics, make sure to check with your doctor to be sure that they’re right for you, but its important to remember probiotics help support healthy digestion by maintaining the health of the intestinal lining, ward off the growth of potentially harmful bacteria and also produce enzymes to support the continued breakdown of foods as it travels through your gut. And while many claim to have the best probiotics on the market, I only trust this one.  

Not only are you getting a healthy dose of probiotics, you are receiving superior wholefood, organic, non-gmo nutrition.

If this article on probiotics was helpful, please leave a comment right below my bio or hit the share button to share with your friends 😀

Thanks for Reading!

Chris 

Chris - The Organic Diabetic

As a type 1 diabetic, I made the switch to an organic lifestyle several years ago after being diagnosed with Diabetes in 2006. Living with diabetes is hard enough, why make it more difficult by consuming products with chemicals, toxins and other harmful, unhealthy ingredients. To me, the choice was easy and just made sense. We hope you enjoy our blog! Feel free to look around and check out all of our products by clicking through the tabs above! Thanks for stopping by and also please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter by liking our pages below! You never know what freebies we will be giving away!! Don't forget to check out the website as well at www.theorganicdiabetic.org

2 thoughts on “The Amazing Health Benefits Of Probiotics For Diabetics

  • Patricia Kesinger

    Love this article, it encouraged me to look up what foods are rich in probiotics. I so love sauerkraut!! lol

    Reply
  • Mary Burneston

    I have stumbled on your article about probiotics and it is an area I’ve been into recently being a woman with type 1 diabetes for 50 years. I’m very excited to checkout your website because of my holisticlike approach along with insulin that I must have for my disease.
    Thank you for this! Mary

    Reply

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