Probiotics For Men: 14 Reasons Why Men Should Take A Probiotic Supplement
Lena Kleinfeld
Men can experience a number of benefits from regularly taking probiotic supplements. In addition to the general benefits that people experience regardless of sex, probiotics can help support mens prostate health, raise testosterone levels, and increase sperm counts.
Probiotics, which is the scientific word for the good bacteria living in our intestines, are critically important for the healthy function of our bodies. These tiny little beneficial bacteria assist the body with many functions spawning from digestion and bowel movements, to the immune system and cognitive function. In addition, more and more research shows that there is a connection between the make-up of the gut bacteria and certain chronic illnesses.
Probiotics are an extremely beneficial dietary supplement to support overall health and vitality. Men, women and kids can benefit from the powerful effects of a high-quality probiotic supplement. In this blog post, we will explore the ways that men specifically can benefit from probiotics.
Frozen Yogurt: Dessert Or Health Food
Frozen yogurt is not the same as traditional yogurt. Unlike traditional yogurt, it doesn’t need to meet any specific government standards to call itself yogurt, and sometimes it’s not actually yogurt at all.
Some brands of frozen yogurt do contain live and active cultures. Surprisingly, freezing doesn’t kill the live microbes, but it may essentially put them to sleep. They wake up from their dormant state only after they thaw inside your body, according to the Natural Yogurt Association . However, if a frozen yogurt does have live and active cultures, it will often have fewer of them than its refrigerated counterparts do. The NYA requires refrigerated yogurts to have 100 million cultures per gram in order to bear its “Live & Active Cultures” seal, but a frozen yogurt product needs to have only 10 million cultures per gram.
In other instances, frozen yogurt may have no live, active cultures at all. Just like with regular yogurt, heat-treated yogurt kills the cultures. Or the maker may just stir live, active cultures into the recipe and skip the fermenting process used to make yogurt. Yogurt must be fermented to get the NYA seal.
The bottom line: When it comes to frozen yogurt, check the label carefully. There may be some healthy ones out there, but in many cases that tasty tub of frozen yogurt is just another dessert.
What Is A Penis
The penis is an organ thats made primarily of spongey tissue. This spongey tissue fills with blood to cause an erection, so you can have penetrative solo or partnered sex.
It looks pretty straightforward, but a penis is actually quite complex, thankyouverymuch. It consists of the glans , corpus , and prepuce . Its also home to the urethra the thin tube through which urine and semen exits the body.
If theres anything typical about penis shape, its that most tend to be cylindrical, often with a wider or at least a more pronounced head.
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Better Than Stool Samples
So far, all that we know about the changes that probiotics make to the types of microbes in our gut comes from scientists analysing the bacteria in stool samples of people who have taken probiotics. But this wont tell us if the microbes are forming colonies or what is really happening inside the digestive tract. To answer these questions, scientists in Israel have taken samples from different regions of the guts of people by putting a tube inside their bodies to measure the bacteria.
The microbes measured in stool samples are more like those from the lower part of the gut than those higher up in the gut, closer to the small bowel. Their data show that the bacteria measured from poo arent very representative of what goes on in the whole gut.
The researchers also found that a lot of the good microbes that were eaten as probiotics did not attach to the tiny hairs in the gut but ended up in the poo. However, the amounts of these bacteria in faeces was not representative of how many good bacteria actually managed to stay alive inside the persons gut.
Using very sophisticated methods they were able to confirm that probiotic supplements change the chemical compounds that are produced in the gut, compared with people who didnt take probiotics.
The most important finding to come out of this study is that the response to probiotics changes between individuals and that the health impact will depend on the bacteria that are already present in the gut.
Probiotics: What Do Probiotics Do:
Probiotics in fermented foods and supplements may benefit health by breaking down food and boosting the immune system.
Fermentation is a process where bacteria transform a substance, and its what probiotic bacteria are renowned for. Probiotics can have positive health effects even if they just pass through the gastrointestinal tract but dont settle down in the microbiome.
Are there plant based probiotics? Definitely, foods like tempeh , sauerkraut, kimchi, and lacto-fermented pickles are only possible thanks to the actions of bacteria like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium that metabolise sugars and increase the nutritional value of these foods.
Fermentation is advantageous for humans because such foods provide a great way for the beneficial bacteria to enter the body. Historically, it was also essential because no one had a fridge or freezer back in the day, and now science is turning to these traditional foods to find solutions for health.
FACTProbiotics are examples of beneficial bacteria which enter our body, usually through the ingestion of fermented foods, that have positive benefits for our health.
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Immune Function And Infections
Some strains of LAB may affect pathogens by means of competitive inhibition and some evidence suggests they may improve immune function by increasing the number of IgA-producing plasma cells and increasing or improving phagocytosis, as well as increasing the proportion of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. LAB products might aid in the treatment of acute diarrhea, and possibly affect rotavirus infections in children and travelers’ diarrhea in adults, but no products are approved for such indications. There is weak evidence probiotics might lower the incidence of acute upper respiratory-tract infections in adults.
Probiotics do not appear to change the risk of infection in older people.
Human Microbiota And Reproductive Impact
The microbial communities that live in the human body, called microbiota, have an important role in the eubiosis status of each individual . A change in its natural state have been shown to contribute to endocrine and metabolic disorders such as bacterial vaginosis , polycystic ovary syndrome , endometrial hyperplasia and endometriosis , and several comorbidities like obesity and diabetes .
The vaginal microbiota is particular to each woman, and its role in many facets of reproductive health is increasingly substantiated . Among all microbial communities that make up the vaginal microbiota, Lactobacillus spp. are the main representative genus for establishing a healthy community . The reasoning behind this physiological impact might be that gastrointestinal microbiota also has a very important active metabolic role in the regulation of the hormonal physiological axis. The GIT microbiota may regulate circulating oestrogens by the secretion of -glucuronidase. This enzyme deconjugates oestrogens into their active forms, allowing them to bind their receptors. However, if microbial dysbiosis occurs, decreasing bacterial diversity results in a deconjugation decrease and a reduction of circulating oestrogens. This alteration can contribute to the development of hormonal-dependent pathologies .
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How Should People Take Probiotics
The requirements for a microbe to be considered a probiotic are that the microbe must be alive when administered, it must be documented to have a health benefit, and it must be administered at levels to confer a health benefit. A rule of thumb often cited is to take at least a billion colony forming units daily.
These are live microorganisms that will not provide the promised benefits if they don’t remain alive. The manufacturer and consumer must pay close attention to the conditions of storage at which the particular microorganism will survive and the end of their shelf life. The potency will indicate the number of viable bacteria per dose, and the purity has to do with presence of contaminating or ineffective bacteria.
The other thing to remember is that these microorganisms are not all created equally. In fact, the genus, strain, and species all need to be the same for the results that found in the study to be the results that one hopes to achieve when taking it. For example, with the strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, the genus is Lactobacillus, the species is rhamnosus, and the strain is GG. If any one of those is different in your supplement, you may not attain the same results.
How Do Probiotics Work In The Body
You might be wondering what happens in your body when you use a probiotic, and how they actually generate a health benefit. Probiotics can improve health through any of several specific mechanisms:
- Interact with other microorganisms in our microbiome
- Stimulate growth of beneficial bacteria in our microbiome
- Inhibit growth of harmful bacteria in our microbiome
- Interact directly with our bodys organs, such as the intestine
- Produce compounds that reduce inflammation or alleviate leaky gut
- Modulate our immune system
One way some probiotics work is through modulating our microbiome. Probiotics can affect the growth and activity of bacteria in our microbiome to change what they make and do. Studies have shown that these changes are possible even when the probiotic does not colonize for long periods of time. The consequences of probiotic-induced alterations to the human microbiome may be to then change how the microbiome affects organ function. For example, some probiotic strains of Bifiobacterium and Lactobacilus make antimicrobial compounds and organic acids that inhibit, endotoxin containing, potentially harmful bacteria in the intestine. Reductions in the numbers of those harmful bacteria results in reduced inflammation and disruptions to barrier integrity. This mechanism is indirect because probiotic efficacy is dependent on the resident microbiome at that particular body site.
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What Does Gut Health Have To Do With Fertility
Your gut does much more than just digest, absorb, and excrete food. Your gut influences the health of every system in your body. Its responsible for the proper function of your immune system, how you think and feels, how you synthesize and excrete hormones, and it influences your fertility too. The bottom line is when your gut isnt functioning properly, other body systems suffer immensely.
That said, if youve been struggling with infertility, understanding and fixing the gut-fertility connection is ESSENTIAL. Moreover, if youve been dealing with unexplained infertility, it might be time to turn your attention to a very likely culprit your gut.
How Popular Are Probiotics
The 2012 National Health Interview Survey showed that about 4 million U.S. adults had used probiotics or prebiotics in the past 30 days. Among adults, probiotics or prebiotics were the third most commonly used dietary supplement other than vitamins and minerals. The use of probiotics by adults quadrupled between 2007 and 2012. The 2012 NHIS also showed that 300,000 children age 4 to 17 had used probiotics or prebiotics in the 30 days before the survey.
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How To Get Started With Probiotics
Think you want to give probiotics a shot? Here are Dr. Crescis take-aways to help you navigate them:
Probiotics are generally recognized as safe, but theyre typically not recommended if you have a compromised immune system. Ask your physician if probiotics are right for you.
It may take some trial and error to find the probiotic that works for you. If you notice no benefits from one product after a few weeks, try a different one with a different strain of bacteria.
Probiotics may cause bloating and gas, as well as changes in your stool patterns all indications that the product is working, Dr. Cresci says.
Prebiotic foods help your good bacteria flourish. Include beans, asparagus, onions, green bananas and other fermentable fiber sources in your diet.
This article originally appeared in Cleveland Clinic Mens Health Advisor.
Probiotics And Health Concerns
When it comes to research on probiotics the bulk of the gold-standard clinical trials suggest that probiotics can help to support gut health. Excitingly, there are also emerging fields of research on a huge variety of health concerns, such as skin health, intimate health, immune health, and mental health. Research into probiotics is growing at an exponential rate watch this space!
The Probiotics Database provides more detailed information on some of the most researched strains in the world, and explores the clinical research behind different strains, for different circumstances. Health professionals can read about probiotic strains on the Probiotics Database
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What Do Probiotics Do Exactly
Theres still a lot that scientists dont understand about probiotics, but studies so far have identified a few functional uses of probiotics, including:
- Promoting the health and maintenance of our digestive tracts cell lining
- Supporting immunity
- Managing inflammation
With these findings, researchers are beginning to conduct more expansive studies on the microbiome. They suspect that if probiotics play definitive roles in these body functions, they may also play a role in diseases and conditions that affect digestive health, immunity, and systemic inflammation.
Conditions Related To Allergy
Allergic Rhinitis
- A review of 23 studies in which probiotics were tested for treating allergic rhinitis found some evidence that they may be helpful for improving symptoms and quality of life. However, because the studies tested different probiotics and measured different effects, no recommendations about the use of probiotics could be made. Few side effects of probiotics were reported in these studies.
Asthma
- A review of 11 studies of probiotics for asthma in children had inconclusive results.
Atopic Dermatitis
- Atopic dermatitis is an itchy chronic skin disorder thatâs associated with allergies but not caused by them. Itâs most common in infants and may start as early as age 2 to 6 months. Many people outgrow it by early adulthood. Atopic dermatitis is one of several types of eczema.
- A 2017 review of 13 studies of probiotics for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in infants and children did not find consistent evidence of a beneficial effect. A review of 9 studies in adults provided preliminary evidence that some strains of probiotics might be beneficial for symptoms of atopic dermatitis.
Prevention of Allergies
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Relieves Stress And Anxiety
A 2019 study in Clinical Nutrition found people who took a daily dose of Lactobacillus plantarum P8 for 12 weeks experienced significant reductions in stress and anxiety levels, as well as improvements in memory and other cognitive functionsLew L-C, Hor Y-Y, Yusoff NAA. Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum P8 alleviated stress and anxiety while enhancing memory and cognition in stressed adults: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Clin Nutr. 2019 38:2053-2064. .
Types And Pathogenic Properties Of The Semen Microbiome
The semen of healthy males had been considered a sterile condition because traditional bacterial cultivation provided an incomplete characterization of the full semen microbiome profile. With the development of high-throughput sequencing, insights into the semen microbiome have been gradually revealed, but the available studies are still insufficient.
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Benefit #: Promote Healthy Weight Loss
Scientists have found a clear connection between gut bacteria and obesity. According to a study published in Nature, a British multidisciplinary scientific journal, people who are obese have smaller populations of a kind of bacteria called Bacteroidetes. The authors also found that with weight loss, Bacteroidetes populations increased. The authors concluded that obesity has a microbial component which they believe could have potential therapeutic implications.
Although its not yet clear whether theres a causal relationship between differences in gut microbiome populations, researchers strongly suspect thats the case.
It also appears that some probiotic strains can facilitate weight loss. A multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group randomized controlled trial published in the British Journal of Nutrition, a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, found that consuming the probiotic Lactobacillus gasseri brought about reductions in belly fat. The 210 healthy adults enrolled in the study, all of whom had large visceral fat areas, took a daily probiotic for 12 weeks, which led to an 8.5% loss of belly fat. Other measures, including BMI, waist and hip circumference, and overall body fat mass, also significantly decreased over the course of the study. When participants stopped taking the probiotics for four weeks, however, all those changes reversed.
Is It Okay To Take A Probiotic Every Day
Since probiotics are typically sold as supplements and not drugs, the FDA does not have to regulate the health claims. However, research shows that daily use of probiotics is safe.
While there are usually not many side effects associated with using a probiotic, people may feel occasional bloating/gas or differences in bowel movements when they first start taking a probiotic, Del Borrello says. It usually goes away with time.
It is also important to get the correct dosage of probiotics for full effectiveness. Probiotic dosages are given in colony-forming units or CFUs. Children are recommended to take 5-10 billion CFUs a day and adults are recommended to take 10-20 billion CFUs per day.
When starting probiotics, it is possible that you will develop loose stool for the first few days. Because probiotics are live bacteria, it is important to check the sell by date on the supplement.
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Dietary Nutritional Supplements: Probiotics And Nutraceuticals
Probiotics, according to the International Life Sciences Institute , WHO, and the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics , are defined as live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host .
Nutraceuticals are defined as food product that provide therapeutic or physiological benefits beyond the basic nutritional needs and can be used as dietary supplements. Nutraceuticals are required to be safe and well tolerate, to exhibit less toxicity and secondary side effects compared to drugs used to treat similar symptoms . Nutraceuticals and released bioactive compounds by probiotics can be used as therapeutic tools to modulate the human microbiota.
Probiotic strains are selected pseudo-empirically for clinical studies and also based on their previously proven beneficial effects, specific activity or function and safety aspects . Administration of probiotics in clinical studies is also based on the demonstration of safety aspects and stronger probiotic activity . Currently, Health Claims constitute a method for verification of demonstrable beneficial properties of probiotic products through compilation of data such as product characterisation, measurable beneficial effects, and links between the product and the exerted effect and further assessment .
