Probiotics can support your health in so many areas, from probiotics for vaginal health or heart health to mental health, allergies, and eczema. However, there is a wealth of probiotic benefits for women. From vaginal health to weight management and healthy bowel function, probiotics are one of the four essential supplements that I recommend everyone takes daily. I truly do believe the best probiotics for women is either a 30 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) that’s ideal for maintenance or a 100 Billion (CFUs), which is what I recommend for recovery.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are living microorganisms that can work in your gut to support your body in a number of ways. They can be found in dietary supplements and fermented foods, as well as within the natural microbiome of your body.1 In fact, you actually have more bacteria in your body than you do your own human cells!
Probiotic Benefits for Women
1. Gut Balance
Probiotics can help you maintain the correct balance of gut flora in your body. Everyone’s gut has a mix of good and bad bacteria. The most common examples of good bacteria are Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Streptococcus.8 There are many types of bad bacteria but among the most common are Staphylococcus, Clostridium perfringens, and Escherichia coli.
2. Immune System
Eighty percent of your immune system is in your gut, which is a key to your health. This is especially important for women because we are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases, particularly lupus and thyroid conditions like hypothyroidism.16,17 It is thought that this may be because women release one-tenth as much testosterone as men.18 Good bacteria help modulate inflammation caused by pathogenic (bad) bacteria.19 And as I’ve said many times, chronic inflammation is one of the root causes of autoimmunity, so keeping it at bay is critical for your optimal health.
3. Regular Bowel Movements
Having regular bowel movements is an important part of female health because your body needs to expel toxins and waste products to remain balanced. Women who have more frequent bowel movements, for example, have a lower risk of breast cancer, which may be because the bile acids absorbed from your intestines concentrate in your breasts and have an estrogen-like, tumor-promoting effect. As an added benefit, becoming more regular can also help you with your blood pressure, as constipation can raise it Probiotic bacteria accounts for up to 70% of the bulk of a healthy bowel movement, so it’s important to ensure you’re getting enough good bacteria to bulk it up.
4. Bowel Transit Time
Probiotics not only support regularity, they also impact transit time, or how long waste remains in your body. Bifidobacterium lactis in particular may support your body in moving waste along at the optimal speed. While this varies from person to person and even day by day, a 12-48 hour window is considered the normal range. Generally, a too-short transit time means your digestive system has not had the opportunity to absorb as much water and nutrients as it should. This can result in diarrhea or loose stools as well as dehydration and nutritional deficiencies.
5. Vaginal Wellness
Vaginal bacteria is also influenced by probiotics, including Lactobacillus. This probiotic produces lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide, which supports your vagina in maintaining an acidic pH level. This high acid level is thought to help the vagina in fending off bacterial infections like bacterial vaginosis and even some sexually transmitted diseases.27 That’s good news for the more than 21 million American women between 14 and 49 who get bacterial vaginosis each year.
