Probiotics: Could The Secret To A Happier Heart Lie In A Happier Stomach?

Inside your body, trillions of microorganisms call the lining of your stomach and intestinal tract home. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are familiar with probiotics, then you know that these bacteria, microflora, and other microorganisms can be good (or bad) for your health. There are a number of known benefits to the probiotic supplements you can find online, and in recent years it has been shown that probiotics have potential for treating cardiovascular symptoms. Read on to learn more about this link and the harmful role that antibiotics play in our health.

The Science Behind Probiotics for Heart Health

Annually, over 500,000 Americans die of heart attacks, with many of the heart attacks being caused by Coronary Heart Disease. CHD remains the leading killer of men and women. It is characterized by the narrowing of the arteries that run to the heart. Many blame lifestyle choices for this disease, so it would make sense that certain lifestyle changes would lower your risk.

What Are Probiotics? - Learn More about Probiotics

One easy lifestyle change is adding probiotics to your daily diet. Probiotics are live yeasts and certain strains of bacteria that can improve gut health by creating an environment where healthy microorganisms can flourish.

How Probiotics Affect Heart Health

Probiotics have been proven to lower the risk of cardiovascular-related disease in more ways than one. While there are many other benefits to probiotics, the benefits that improve heart health include:

●Probiotics reduce the risk of congestive heart failure by reducing inflammation and blood cholesterol levels that cause cardiac damage.

●Probiotics help to lower cholesterol levels without the use of statins (cholesterol drugs).

●Probiotics improve mood, which allows you to better deal with anxiety in daily life and reduce stress, which harms heart health.

●Probiotics improve digestive health and clean out waste from the body, which can help reduce overall weight. This is important because obesity increases your risk of heart disease, as well as diabetes, stroke, and cancer.

●Probiotics naturally reduce high blood pressure, which is a contributing factor to cardiovascular issues.

How Prebiotics Play a Role - Learn More about Prebiotics

Something else that can be considered are prebiotics, which are precursors that are necessary for bacteria to create special chemicals. One of the most important prebiotics for heart health is fiber. Fiber is a precursor that is broken down by bacteria to create chemicals that have the potential to lower blood pressure.

What Antibiotics Do to Healthy Gut Bacteria

One of the biggest obstacles that healthy bacteria face is antibiotics. When you are sick and go to the doctor, you may be prescribed antibiotics. These will sweep through your body, destroying the bacteria that is causing your illness. Unfortunately, antibiotics make no distinction between good and bad bacteria. This means all the healthy microorganisms are destroyed as well. This is one of the reasons that gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea are common when you take antibiotics.

Probiotics and prebiotics offer a wide range of benefits for the body, from digestive health to heart health. This makes it especially important to eat probiotic-rich foods after you take antibiotics for an illness.

Choosing to include probiotics and prebiotics in your diet can help you lead a happier, healthier life- starting with your heart. Probiotics can lower the risk of congestive heart failure, balance cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and decrease obesity, three factors that highly contribute to cardiovascular issues. Including live yeasts and bacterial strains is the best way to increase gut health, thus improving heart health. You should also be sure to increase probiotic intake following an antibiotic treatment.