15 Health Benefits of Probiotics (+Best Probiotic Foods)

Probiotics are live bacteria which are ingested in food and are beneficial health-wise to the human body. They come with numerous benefits as outlined below. To help you incorporate probiotics into your diet, we also included a list of the 15 best probiotic foods.

Probiotics help reduce allergy and eczema 

About 20% of the world is affected by allergy which is a chronic disorder. Allergy is also the commonest childhood chronic disease. There is a hygiene hypothesis of allergy which purports that speedy allergy increase is associated with less exposure to infections in childhood.

Persistent bacterial stimulus from developing digestive bacteria is required for the effective development of the gut immune system. A lack of exposure to infections in childhood and early stages of development predisposes the digestive system to a higher risk of allergies in later stages of life. Certain probiotics play an important role in allergy prevention by triggering the immune system which is innate. The immune system then protects the body from allergens in turn.

The mechanism of operation of these probiotics that they use to produce effective results is not wholly understood yet but it is alleged that they produce the beneficial effects by improving the production and lining of the gut with mucus to bar allergens and through microbial stimulation of the innate immune system. They have been proven to be effective in control of pollen allergy in both children and grown-ups.

Certain strains of probiotics may also reduce the severity of eczema in young ones. A study showed an improvement in the eczema symptoms for infants who were given probiotic-supplemented milk as contrasted with those given milk with no probiotics. Another study showed that children of women who took probiotics during pregnancy reduced their children’s risk of eczema for the first two years by 83%.

Bottom Line: Certain probiotics play an important role in allergy prevention by triggering the innate immune system thus preventing allergies. They are also known to reduce the severity of eczema in children.