Probiotics are live cultures of bacteria that help to maintain the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. While probiotics are generally used to promote better digestive health, recently other uses have been discovered as well. These include reducing the symptoms of some skin conditions, such eczema, preventing allergies and colds, improving oral health, and promoting urinary and vaginal health in women.
Probiotics for Urinary Health
A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects any part of the urinary system, including the kidneys, bladder, or urethra. UTIs are the second most common type of infection in the body, but women are especially prone to developing this type of infection because the female anatomy makes it easier for bacteria to enter the urinary tract in women. Women are 50% more likely to develop at least one UTI in their lifetime than men.
There are some preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of developing a UTI, such as drinking cranberry juice and emptying your bladder after sexual intercourse. However, recently, there have been studies that are showing taking probiotics may also be effective at preventing UTIs as well. They are also good at promoting the healing of a current UTI when taken along with antibiotics. This is because taking regular probiotics will prevent bad bacteria from invading the urinary tract by maintaining a population of healthy bacteria there.
Probiotics for Vaginal Health
Similarly to the digestive tract, women’s vaginas require a delicate balance of good and bad bacteria in order to function properly. If the balance is even slightly off, infections can result. The most common types of vaginal infections include bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections. Bacterial vaginosis occurs when there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the vagina, while a yeast infection occurs when there is an overgrowth of a certain type of fungi (candida) that lives in the vagina.
Studies have shown that regularly taking certain types of probiotics, such as the L. acidophilius strain will help to prevent infections as well as manage currently active infections. If antibiotic or antifungal treatments are necessary to treat an infection, probiotics seem to aid in the treatment as well. If you are taking antibiotics for another reason, this can sometimes cause vaginal yeast infections to occur as well, since the antibiotic will destroy both the good and bad bacteria in your vaginal environment. Taking probiotics can help to prevent the balance from being disrupted and avoid yeast infections from occurring as a result of antibiotic treatments. However, it is important to note that the probiotics are most effective when they are taken as vaginal suppositories rather than oral supplements or in food.
Probiotics for Pregnancy
It is also true that probiotics may help to promote maternal health as well, especially since pregnant women are especially susceptible to vaginal infections. Since bacterial vaginosis can significantly increase the risk for preterm labor and birth defects, taking probiotics to prevent these types of infections from occurring during pregnancy can be vital.
