When we're healthy, over 100 trillion microorganisms from over 400 microbial species thrive in our intestines, helping with digestion, helping support the immune function and producing various vitamins. More importantly, the good bacteria crowd out harmful bacteria helping preventing them from gaining a foothold.
When our microflora is unbalanced, intestinal function can be adversely affected, and the good microbes can have a difficult time crowding out the harmful bacteria. Probiotics work to our benefit by modulating the composition and activity of intestinal microflora (gut flora) or by acting directly on intestinal cells. In the simplest possible terms, probiotics work by helping improve that intestinal microbial balance.
Though the general wellness benefits will vary depending on the amount and type of probiotic bacteria consumed (Sanders et al., 2004), experts agree that daily consumption of probiotics is beneficial.
Introduction
