What are the benefits of probiotics for babies? How to choose probiotic products?

What are the benefits of probiotics for babies? How to choose probiotic products?

Now let’s talk about probiotics. First, what are probiotics? Probiotics are a branch of bacteria. The definition generally recognized by the international nutrition community is: probiotics are a type of bacteria that are beneficial to animals. They can be taken directly as food additives to maintain the balance of intestinal flora, inhibit anaerobic bacteria in the intestines, and improve the microbiome in the intestines. Ecology, promotes normal physiological functions and immune function of the intestines.

What effects do probiotics have on Baobang?

Relieve diarrhea symptoms: Relieve diarrhea caused by lactose intolerance symptoms and bacterial and viral infections.

Reduce constipation: soften stool and allow baby to urinate smoothly.

Enhance digestion and absorption: Help babies overcome gastrointestinal discomfort during the period of adding complementary foods and enhance nutrient absorption.

Restore self-bacteria balance: Assist the reproduction of baby's probiotics and restore the baby's "bacteria balance" to a healthy state.

Prevent allergies: Probiotics improve intestinal suction function, thereby preventing unexplained allergic symptoms in infants and young children.

There are so many probiotic products for babies, how do you choose the best one?

1. Look at activity

Probiotics must be "alive" in order to play a healthy role. This is the basis for the effectiveness of probiotics. Probiotics are living microorganisms that undergo various tests from production (including strain selection, production environment, packaging, etc.), to being sold on shelves, and after consumption to the intestinal tract through extreme environments such as gastric acid and bile. The activity of probiotics is consumed, and only the probiotics that pass through these checkpoints and finally reproduce and survive in the intestinal tract can really work.

Therefore, although some probiotic products have high bacterial counts, due to lack of protection, the number of viable bacteria that can successfully reach the intestinal tract and reproduce is actually very small.

2. Look at the quantity

The amount of probiotics required is related to the degree of loss of normal intestinal flora and the presence of harmful bacteria. 1.9-2 billion probiotics per day are considered to be the minimum limit for maintaining normal intestinal flora. Babies’ probiotic needs are different from adults. Experts recommend a daily intake of about 4 billion to 10 billion live bacteria.

3. Know the bacterial species

The efficacy of probiotics is based on the "strain", and not all strains of probiotics have the same efficacy. The products currently recognized as having powerful functions on the market are mainly complex active probiotics based on lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

4. Select dosage form

Many people drink yogurt and lactic acid drinks every day, but they still have stinky farts and lack of probiotics in their intestines. Why is this? Because the survival conditions of probiotics are very strict, the number and activity of viable bacteria will be greatly reduced after leaving the culture environment for 2-4 hours. From the time yogurt is made to the hands of consumers, it has to go through a long period of production, logistics, and sales. Temperature changes during this period will also greatly destroy the activity of probiotics.

Therefore, the number of live probiotic bacteria in yogurt is small and the activity is poor. On the other hand, the probiotics in yogurt have no ability to resist gastric acid, bile and digestive enzymes, so it is very difficult for them to reach their destination - the large intestine alive. Finally, a large amount of sugar, sweeteners, and even thickeners, pigments, flavors and other ingredients are added to the yogurt and lactic acid drinks on the market, which are also harmful to health. For smaller babies, granules are a better choice, and for older children, chewable tablets are a better choice.