Hannah holds an honours degree in Human Biology and has a passion for writing about diet, health, wellness and the environment. She’s working her way to being fully plant-based and is a keen home cook and fair weather runner.
Can Probiotics Help IBS?
Like many of us, my digestion and gastrointestinal system in general could probably do with functioning a little better. Without being too descriptive (which is difficult, I’m a writer after all), I can be very susceptible to the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS. Some days I can eat all the carbs I like, other days, an avocado will set me off on a path of pain and bloating so bad that retreating to bed with a hot water bottle sums up the rest of my day.
So while it can be just eating that sparks a flare up, diet definitely plays a part. And since changing to an (almost fully) plant-based diet, I’ve noticed a discernible difference.
But I’ve found, to my amazement, that probiotics make a difference.
Not the little plastic pot of drinkable yoghurt kind of probiotic. Since working in a microbiology lab as a student with vials of microbes, the notion of downing a similar looking vial was ruined for me.
And besides, there’s plenty of accumulating evidence that most of the probiotic in those drinks never makes it past the stomach.
But probiotics in a capsule. And my capsules of choice are Bio-Kult Advanced Multi-Strain Formula.
The Benefits of Bugs
Probiotics are good bacteria that help boost the numbers of the good little guys we all have in our guts. We have trillions of them, going about our intestines, aiding with digestion, fighting off invading bad bugs and supporting our immune system. It’s safe to say, that without them, we’d be in quite a lot of trouble.
But their numbers can easily be reduced by every day life factors such as stress, food poisoning and other infections, including a bad diet or having a more active social life (and all the over-consumption that often includes!).
Foreign travel too, as nice as it is for us, can also play havoc with what’s called our ‘gut microflora’.
Travellers’ diarrhoea is a very real thing for anyone who’s experienced it. And a course of antibiotics, designed to kill off the bad guys causing us to be ill, will also kill off these good guys too.
Also, conditions such as IBS and more severe inflammatory gut conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease can cause an imbalance in gut microflora.
So taking a daily capsule of probiotics doesn’t seem like a bad idea, to keep our guts happy and our immune systems strong.
For me, taking one each morning with breakfast seems to be making a difference; and certainly stomach pains, bloating and other unmentionables have become less frequent visitors.
Each capsule of Bio-Kult has 14 different strains of stomach loving bacteria and contains 2 billion live bugs.
A quick word to any vegans reading this, the bacterial strains in Bio-Kult are grown with the help of some cow’s milk. I’m ‘mainly’ plant-based and eliminating as many animal products as I can, but for now, Bio-Kult are staying because they work so well for me.
Probiotics are considered safe, and the makers of Bio-Kult, Protexin, are considered one of the leaders in innovative research into probiotics and gut health. So why not give them a try for a few months? Your gut might just well thank you for it, in its own unique way!
