We’ve seen the commercials: Belly-dance your way to better health though consumption of probiotic yogurt. The addition of probiotics to foods like orange juice, bread, milk, ice cream, and even chocolate is just part of slick advertising to sell products.
However, probiotics are essential to a healthy immune system and an important factor to overall good health. Regardless of how the message is getting out, I’m happy people (and advertising firms) are catching on.
What are probiotics and why they are so important to us? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.”
Basically, probiotics are live, friendly, beneficial bacteria. They live in both the large and small intestines and play an important role in keeping us healthy.
