Are Probiotics always the answer?

We hear so much today about the importance of gut health and the role that our gut microbiota plays in our
overall health. This is true, our microbiota, usually called our gut bacteria, play a role in how we breakdown and absorb our food. Allowing us to absorb all those lovely nutrients that our body needs to function on a daily basis.

But will a good old probiotic automatically help you to improve all your health issues as so often
advertised?
The answer is yes……and no, depending on the issue. Whereas it is important that we have a healthy gut bacterium to breakdown and absorbed our nutrients there is a lot more at play in our digestive system
for us to be able to do this.
Our digestive system actually begins in our mouth and ends with the elimination of stool. The first step of
digestion is that we need to be able to chew and breakdown our food. For some people, especially as we get older, we don’t produce as much saliva to help us do this. We also need to have enzymes that help us breakdown our food. It could be that we are not producing enzymes that allow us to our fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
We also need good motility in our intestines to help us move our food through our digestive system.
Also, if you have a condition called SIBO (Small intestine bacterial overgrowth) adding a probiotic to this
could do more harm than good. So if you are having gut issues, and before you grab the nearest probiotic, consider other parts of your digestive system that may be a little out of sync.