The Health Benefits of Probiotics
Probiotics are naturally found in the gut and are vital to our health.
Meet the “good” bacteria. Broadly defined as live microorganisms that provide health benefits when taken in adequate amounts, probiotics are often found in your body, food, or other supplements and are classified as “good” bacteria because of their essential benefits.
When most people hear the word “bacteria,” they think of infection or disease. However, good bacteria like probiotics provide protection against other harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive system. In fact, a normal human digestive tract contains about 500–1000 strains of probiotic bacteria working to defend vital bodily systems.
The Benefits of Probiotics
Probiotics play an essential role in promoting overall health. The benefits of probiotic bacteria include:
- Counteracting harmful bacteria that cause disease
- Fighting against intestinal infections
- Manufacturing vitamins
- Promoting specific immune responses
- Playing a role in the prevention of diseases, including peptic ulcers, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease
- Breaking down uremic toxins in the digestive tract
“Probiotics are live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host,” (FAO/WHO, 2002)
Why are Probiotic Supplements Gaining Popularity?
While probiotics and probiotic foods have been marketed for decades in Europe and Asia, they have only recently become popular in the United States. Probiotics have been heavily promoted for their health benefits, and are commonly found in supplements, fermented drinks, or dairy products such as yogurt. However, processes like pasteurization kill probiotic microorganisms, which is why live probiotics are added back into dairy products after they are pasteurized.
Similarly, the stomach is another hurdle probiotics need to clear, as probiotics in foods like yogurt deteriorate when they come into contact with stomach acids – markedly reducing the number of live probiotics by the time they reach the intestine. That’s why probiotics like Renadyl are important. Renadyl has a specially-designed capsule coating that protects the probiotic microorganisms as they pass through the stomach, allowing them to reach the colon intact.
As the promise of probiotics continues to emerge, scientists have begun focusing on the role of probiotic bacteria to aid digestion, boost natural defenses, and fight bacteria that could cause health problems.
Probiotics and Kidney Health
Kidneys may not directly be a part of the digestive system, but probiotic bacteria in the intestines or bowel can benefit kidney health by breaking down waste, manufacturing vitamins, and defending against infection.
Some good bacteria are absolutely necessary for overall health, not just bowel health, and ideally the good bacteria crowds out the bad bacteria that cause disease. A normal human digestive tract contains about 500–1000 strains of probiotic bacteria that control and reduce the growth of harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive system.
How Do Probiotics Improve Kidney Function?
When the kidneys become overloaded and a buildup of harmful waste compounds – such as urea, uric acid, and creatinine – occurs within the bloodstream. Eventually these compounds diffuse into the colon. When this occurs, certain probiotic microorganisms, such as those found in Renadyl, can utilize these and other waste compounds as nutrients for growth within the colon.
Probiotic microorganisms multiply when a food source is readily available, which, as they increase in number, can create greater diffusion of uremic waste compounds from the circulating blood into the bowel. This increased microbial growth is excreted along with the feces (which is normally 50% microbes by weight).
Taking certain scientifically proven probiotics on a regular basis, like those found in Renadyl, can help transform the colon into a blood-cleansing agent. By allowing the probiotics to bind to and break down the harmful waste compounds that diffuse in the blood, the colon is able to indirectly remove the waste and help eliminate it as fecal matter. This helps the body stay pure of harmful wastes and helps alleviate strain on damaged kidneys.
Probiotics and Immune Health
Probiotics Promoting Immunity in the Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract
Since the GI tract is one of the body’s largest systems, it is the body’s primary immune organ, responsible for defending against any harmful bacteria that the body ingests. It even contains 70-80% of the body’s immune cells.
Put simply, probiotics keep the gut healthy; therefore, they also help ensure the immune system functions properly. Probiotics can also be a viable alternative for promoting immune health in those whose systems resist prescription antibiotics.
How to Keep the GI Tract Healthy
Keeping the gut in tip-top shape can have a major impact on the overall health of the body. For instance, levels of certain friendly bacteria in the colon have been reported to decline after age 55, while other levels of bacteria may be negatively influenced by stress. That is why it’s important to make a conscious effort to promote a healthy GI system by taking supplements like probiotics that can help fight bacteria.
Taking probiotics on a regular basis may help restore levels of important immune system markers back to levels found in younger controls. Probiotics may also help counteract any changes in the intestinal barrier function often brought on by stress. In order to maintain a healthy immune system, the intestinal tract must be kept in order and have healthy levels of friendly bacteria to fend off harmful ones.
Letting Probiotics Go to Work
It may seem strange to think of bacteria communicating to one another inside the body, but that is exactly how probiotics work to prevent toxins from causing harm. “Colonies” of probiotic microorganisms within the GI tract communicate with the immune system to work together and fend off bad bacteria. Think of probiotics as the cavalry that revitalizes the immune system and helps promote proper immune responses.
While the probiotics go to work identifying harmful bacteria and begin eliminating them, the immune system lends a helping hand to break up and escort these dead pathogens out of the body. A specially designed probiotic like Renadyl helps turn the colon into a cleansing agent that assists the damaged or injured kidney’s inability to properly metabolize waste in the body.
How Renadyl’s Proprietary Probiotics Help Improve Kidney Health
Renadyl is a patented and proprietary probiotics dietary supplement that has been scientifically formulated and clinically tested. The probiotics in Renadyl metabolize nitrogenous wastes that have diffused from the bloodstream into the bowel, utilizing them as nutrients. As Renadyl’s probiotics grow and multiply, they consume more nitrogenous waste, effectively helping maintain healthy kidney function. The nitrogenous compounds are eliminated as solid waste/fecal matter.
