What Do Probiotics Do for You: A Journey to a Healthy Gut

We all have a gut. It just rarely comes up in conversation, especially if when digestive issues pop up unexpectedly. If you opened up to friends and family about it, you might be surprised to hear that you are not alone. Align user Catherine said, “Never be afraid to talk about your gut health. You only have one life. You need to make sure it’s the best.” Once you start talking, you can find out how probiotic supplements might help you and learn about what they do.

Many people take a probiotic proactively to support their body’s health and overall wellness . Others take it to support a 70% of your immune system that’s in your gut. Others may take probiotics to help address their occasional digestive upsets and accompanying symptoms like abdominal gas and bloating. Probiotics like Align 24/7 Digestive Support^*§ can add the good bacteria too your gut to promote a healthy digestive system.

Start talking to whoever you trust—friends, family, your doctor—and find out how probiotics might help you.

An uncomfortable day for your digestive system could mean a ruined day for you.

Everyone’s gut has trillions of bacteria in it. This community of bacteria is called the gut microbiome, and its makeup is unique to each person. Your gut microbiome can be affected by factors like diet, travel, lack of sleep, and stress. Be aware of how these factors play into your life so you can proactively maintain a healthy gut.

Probiotics user Catherine knows the struggle. “I’ve experienced pretty terrible bloating off and on for a while.” Then, Catherine turned to Align 24/7 Digestive Support.^*§ “I’ve noticed a difference in feeling bloated less. I feel like overall, my health is improved by adding this into my regimen.”

Lots of people experience digestive issues, regardless of their age or body makeup. Probiotics user Cody said, “I’ve had different issues my whole life and then when I got to be probably early twenties, I really started saying, and I had partners that would say, like, ‘You’re letting this control parts of your life, where it’s… you’re worrying about it too much, have anxiety about it.’”

The worry that comes with digestive issues can be annoying. It comes and goes, but at times it feels like you cannot concentrate on other things. Like Roderick, you might even be afraid to go to unfamiliar places, fearing that you may experience abdominal discomfort or gas. Roderick said, “You have to tell your kids like, no, we can’t go to that. And they’re like, ‘Why?’ And I’m like, ‘My stomach isn’t doing all that well right now.’ That discomfort of it all, I hated it. It was definitely a challenge for me.”

But guess what? Probiotics like Align 24/7^*§ can help build and support a healthy digestive system^* so you can worry less about digestive health and focus on what matters to you.

Probiotics help balance the good and bad bacteria in your gut to keep everything healthy and balanced. Probiotics are good bacteria that you add to your gut, via diet or by taking a probiotic supplement, to help support your health. How? They add the good bacteria your gut wants and help to keep the microbiome in your gut balanced and working harmoniously with your body.

The benefits that you should expect from a probiotic are dependent on its strain. By adding the right probiotic to your gut, you can help manage the occasional symptoms that can be caused by an imbalance in your microbiome. Bifidobacterium 35624, Align’s flagship strain in 24/7 Digestive Support,^§* can help calm occasional abdominal discomfort, gas, and bloating.^*

Determine what benefit you’re looking for out of a probiotic, then from there you can choose the best probiotic for you.

Less time worrying means more time to do what you want to do. Probiotics disperse lots of good bacteria to your gut, helping maintain the balance of good and bad bacteria and supporting overall gut health.^* With less stress related to your gut health, you can take on the day and whatever it holds.

Align user Glenda has a high-energy lifestyle keeping up with her work and her grandson. She started taking Align, and now has the peace of mind to worry less when she is out playing with him or working on the weekends. Glenda said, “Having your gut healthy is so important to the health of your body. I really believe in probiotics, and I have been a believer for a long time.”

Gut health is all too often a taboo topic, but it shouldn’t be. Probiotics user Julie said, “My friends and I talk about gut issues. I don’t think it’s that secretive. And as soon as you talk about it, everybody else mentions the same issues. As we get older we all have very similar issues.”

Everyone has a gut. The more you talk about digestive health, the more empowered you are to find solutions to help ensure you keep it running at its best. There’s no need for you to go through life stressed about your digestion.

If you struggle with occasional digestive issues, take the next step and talk to your healthcare provider. These experts know how to help you solve your digestive issues, and they may suggest a change in diet or the addition of a probiotic supplement to help you on your way to optimal health.

Even better, they can help by determining if there is anything serious to address. If not they can guide you on the journey as you make changes to optimize your gut health.

Cody, who uses Align probiotics, said, “If someone else is out there struggling with digestive issues, first I would find someone they can trust to talk to. It could be a friend, a partner, a family member. If that’s not an option, or you don’t feel comfortable doing that, I think it’s totally within reason to go to a medical professional and talk to them about these kinds of things.”

Imagine knowing you can go somewhere with your family and not worry about the possibility of abdominal discomfort. Imagine heading into a long meeting and not worrying that you’ll have to excuse yourself for occasional digestive symptoms.

According to Dustin, this is the main reason he takes probiotics: “Knowing I have a healthy gut, a healthy GI tract, means that I can spend time with my family. It means that I can go to work every day and earn the income I need to. Not needing to worry about myself, knowing that I’m in good health, helps me know that I’ll be able to help my family when they need it. Probiotics enabled me to enjoy life, just, day to day.”

There are two common ways to help support your gut with good bacteria: eating certain foods with live cultures and taking a probiotic supplement.

Many foods contain live cultures. You might already be eating some of them. But live cultures don’t equal probiotics. Sometimes it takes a little digging to find out which foods actually contain live cultures with a proven health benefit. Then you have to eat enough of those foods to make sure you’re giving your gut the amount of probiotics it needs to deliver the intended health benefit.

Now here’s the better news: You don’t need to completely change your diet in order to add probiotics to your health regimen. Dietary supplements like Align are an easier way to get the ideal dosage of a well-researched probiotic strain.

Align helps build and support your healthy digestive system,^* and its impact on digestive health has been well studied. Align’s flagship probiotic strain Bifidobacterium 35624 is backed by more than 20 years of research. Align also performs a DNA verification step on every single one of their products to make sure that it contains exactly what they say it contains.

In 2008, gastroenterologists in the United States were asked what brand of probiotic they recommend. They said Align then, and Align has continued to be their top choice every year since.^‡

“Give it a try and see how you feel, because I think once you start taking a probiotic, you’re not going to want to stop.” - Catherine, an Align user

“Because of Align, I can go anywhere and do whatever I want, without having to worry in the back of mind that I’m going to have an issue later on.” – Cody, an Align user

“I keep reading more and more about the microbiome, so to me it’s worth it to take a product like Align, because I think I'm doing something good for my gut.” – Julie, an Align user

“It’s emotional to explain because I want to push this out there on people who might be scared to speak up. Whatever you have to do throughout your day to get through, and you have any restrictions holding you back, don’t pretend it’s not there.” – Nick, an Align user

Read more stories from Align users like you.

Sources (Accessed April 2020)

• International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, “Probiotics: Dispelling Myths”
  
• World Gastroenterology Organisation Global Guidelines, “Probiotics and Prebiotics”
• International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, “Health Benefits of Probiotics”
  
• National Institute of Health, “National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health Probiotics: What you Need to Know”