In the world of gut health, 'probiotics' is a familiar term. Yet, we understand that navigating the labyrinth of what they are, how they work, and the benefits of incorporating them into your diet can be complex and confusing. In this blog post, we seek to demystify probiotics and answer your pressing questions to empower you with a better understanding of what they are and how they might fit into your lifestyle.

Probiotics are the live microorganisms known as the ‘good bacteria’ in our gut which help us to maintain a balanced and healthy gut microbiome. These microorganisms are often found in fermented foods such as yogurt and kefir but can also be added to your diet through supplements.

The best way to understand probiotics is to think of your gut as a luscious garden and the probiotics are the skilled gardeners that tend to the ‘plants’ or different types of bacteria, to make sure they remain healthy and free of pests.

In the gut, probiotics play an important role in our immune system's defence against harmful bacteria. They protect us by multiplying to crowd the pathogens or “bad bacteria” by taking their resources and space. They also release certain acids that discourage pathogen growth while improving the overall gut environment.

Now that we have a good understanding of what probiotics are and how they work, let’s dive into the specifics.

Should I take probiotics consistently?

To see the best health benefits from taking probiotics, we recommend regular and consistent use. However, it is important to understand that recommended consumption patterns can vary between different products, people, goals and health circumstances.

What happens when taking a break?

If you’re maintaining a healthy diet, missing a day or two won’t be an issue. However, if you don’t take your probiotics for a couple of months your gut microbiome is likely to return to its original state, undoing the hard work of your little gardeners.

How often should I take them, and at what time?

This will largely depend on the type of probiotic you’re taking. Meluka’s range of Postbiotic Tonic, Probiotic Concentrates are to be easily taken once per day and are bio-fermented, which means you can take them at any time. Although, we do recommend that you have them at the same time each day for the best results. It’s always best to check the intake instructions on the packaging to ensure that you’re doing what’s best for your specific probiotic product.

What are the benefits of daily consumption?

Regular probiotic consumption has been proven to help with symptoms linked to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other unfavourable gut health symptoms such as anxiety, bloating and constipation, as well as helping to support the immune system.

If you don’t see results immediately, don’t lose faith. Our gut microbiome is complex, and it can take 2-6 weeks for the good bacteria to increase, the bad bacteria to decrease and inflammation in the gut to reduce.

Now that you know what probiotics are, the correct ways to consume them and how they can benefit your wellness, we can look at different options to seamlessly incorporate them into our diets.

If you are just beginning your gut health journey, we recommend our Meluka Australia P3 Gut Builder - Triple Action Postbiotic Tonic to get you started. Made from a slow-fermented process, it combines selected prebiotics from raw honey and inulin, the powerful Lactobacillus rhamnosus Beebiotic MAP01® probiotic strain, seven multi-strain probiotics and two postbiotic strains to rapidly boost your gut health and wellbeing.