What are probiotics?
Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body. Bacteria is usually viewed in a negative light as something that makes you sick. However, you have two kinds of bacteria constantly in and on your body — good bacteria and bad bacteria. Probiotics are made up of good bacteria that helps keep your body healthy and working well. This good bacteria helps you in many ways, including fighting off bad bacteria when you have too much of it, helping you feel better.
It makes a lot of sense that we’d grow more confident as we age. After all, we’ve been around a lot longer, we’ve grown from our experiences and we’ve sharpened a whole lot of skills.
So why do some women say they have less confidence as they age—and more importantly, how can we change this?
Probiotics are part of a larger picture concerning bacteria and your body, your microbiome. Think of a microbiome as a diverse community of organisms, such as a forest, that work together to keep your body healthy. This community is made up of things called microbes. You have trillions of microbes on and in your body. These microbes are a combination of:
- Bacteria.
- Fungi (including yeasts).
- Viruses.
- Protozoa.
Everyone’s microbiome is unique. No two people have the same microbial cells, even twins are different. For a microbe to be called a probiotic, it must have several characteristics.
These include being able to:
- Be isolated from a human.
- Survive in your intestine after ingestion (being eaten).
- Have a proven benefit to you.
- Be safely consumed.
Where do beneficial probiotics (microbes) live in my body?