Why do the Elderly need Probiotics?

If you are over the age of 60, then you should adapt to either probiotic drinks or probiotic supplements. By doing so you will avoid developing bowel conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome, as stated by researchers from Reading University, United Kingdom.

By consuming lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic products and supplements, it is stressed that it will result in numerous benefits that will help you have a healthy gut. Half the probiotic brands that are available in the market may not be as potent as the really popular brands. For a probiotic to work it needs to have to right strain of live bacteria that will benefit a human’s digestive tract, the product also needs to prove that it carries 10 million bacteria or more.

Elderly people have a lower number of friendly bacteria present in their gut and this can be harmful to their digestion as compared to young adults. This also means that senior citizens have more harmful bacteria in their intestines as compared to young adults. This is why the elderly are more prone to gut diseases than young adults, like gastrointestinal infections and bowel conditions.

We all have friendly bacteria that live in our gut throughout our lives, this bacteria help digest food and also provides a balance that is needed for a healthy lifestyle. Probiotic supplements are taken because the number of friendly bacteria can decrease after some time and this can affect the digestive system and your overall health.

As senior citizens have a less number of bacteria, probiotic supplements help in keeping the balance, probiotics have live strains of bacteria which are added as ingredients into powders, yogurts, capsules, fruit juices and other products.

Glenn Gibson, who is the head researcher at Reading University, UK, has stated that probiotics protect senior citizens from complications that can be caused due to food poisoning, like E.coli. He also talks about 80 human studies with positive outcomes against bowel conditions, like traveler’s diarrhea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and antibiotic-induced diarrhea.

Antibiotics reduce the levels of good bacteria strains that are present in your intestines, anybody who consumes antibiotics regardless of their age would garner great benefits from taking probiotic products.

Probiotics for the older population:

From all the findings that were conducted with all the research that was conducted, there would be a very good case for administrations of probiotics towards the elderly population. In short, these people have a different range of physiological, immunological and microbiological variations which are relative to younger subjects. This just indicates that an introduction of good microorganisms would directly or indirectly affect an older person’s health.

Choice of strains and strategies:

Recent studies have been summarized to showcase the major benefits that are associated with probiotic consumption for older adults. The number of older Americans is expected to increase by 21{d3c60023947365f0952b5035a9683a235cbc7c14337ea22b03cb0529785b7564} by the year 2030. Over the past few years, the benefits of probiotics have been reached out to by many manufacturers, to some people probiotics can be a miracle cure that cures them and for some, it may not take any difference at all.

Studies have concluded that probiotics are indeed good for a human’s digestive system, especially to adults who are aging. Their digestive tract can be weak due to growing old and repeated antibiotic use. Probiotics are essential to a person only when in limited quantities, just enough to work a cure for them.

Probiotics have been accepted in Europe and Asia for many decades now and it’s only recently that the trend has hit the United States, this is because initially when they hear about consuming live bacteria they don’t find the idea very appealing. But it’s now they have realized that it is a good idea to adapt the probiotic concept into their lives.