If you’ve decided to start taking probiotics, congratulations! They can play a crucial role in supporting your gut microbiome, immune system, and overall health.
However, there’s no “green light” in your body to let you know with absolute certainty that they’re working.
Unlike taking insulin and measuring your blood sugar, you won’t necessarily have immediate proof that your probiotics are taking effect. Instead, you’ll have to monitor your body for more nuanced signs of improvement.
Let’s look at some of those signs, so you can answer the burning question: “How do I know if my probiotic is working?”
What Is a Probiotic?
Let’s start by taking a minute to understand what probiotics are.
Your body is teeming with millions of bacteria. They’re on your skin, in your mouth, and in your gut. Feeling a little grossed out? Don’t be! Many of these bacteria are actually good for you.
Your body hosts both “good” (beneficial) and “bad” (pathogenic) bacteria. The trick is to have the right balance.
Your gut microbiome, where most of your body’s bacteria is found, has a limited amount of space. When your bad bacteria flourishes, it can crowd out the beneficial bacteria, leading to a long list of health issues.
Taking probiotics can increase the quantity and quality of beneficial bacteria in your gut. They help create thriving colonies of “good guys” and restore the right balance to your gut microbiome.
How to Take Probiotics
There are a couple of ways you can consume probiotics. Let’s take a look at each.
Probiotic Foods
One way to get more good bacteria is to consume probiotic-rich foods and drinks. These delicious foods can be eaten alone, as snacks, or with your meals. You may already be eating them and not even realize it!
Some probiotic-rich food options include:
- Kefir
- Kimchi
- Kombucha
- Miso
- Pickles
- Sauerkraut
- Soft cheeses (only some)
- Sourdough bread
- Tempeh
- Yogurt
You may have noticed from this list that most, if not all, probiotic foods and drinks have gone through the fermentation process. This gives them a very distinct odor and flavor that may not appeal to everyone. Some people might have food allergies or dietary restrictions that prevent them from eating some of these foods. For these and other reasons that we’ll get into in a moment, we recommend taking a probiotic supplement.
Probiotic Supplements
The best way to increase the number of good bacteria in your body is to take a probiotic supplement.
Probiotic supplements come in several forms, including:
- Capsules
- Liquid
- Pills
- Powder
As with any supplement, it’s important to read labels and check expiration dates. Also, some strains of probiotics are more fragile than others. In fact, many probiotics need to be refrigerated because the probiotics in these supplements cannot survive at room temperature.
This begs the question: If they can’t survive in room temperature, how will they survive the harsh environment of your stomach in order to make it to your gut where they can do their job?
Unfortunately, they can’t.
The best probiotic supplements contain spore strains (like those in Just Thrive Probiotic). Clinically proven spore strains have a natural, outer “shell” that protects them from harsh environments (like your stomach acid) so they can arrive in your gut 100% intact and ready to work!
7 Signs Probiotics Are Working
Once you start taking probiotics, naturally, you’d like to see results—and fast.
Here are some ways you can gauge if your probiotics are working for you.
1. More Regular Bowel Movements
Digestive issues are one of the top issues associated with a gut imbalance. Whether you visit the bathroom too much, too little, or experience regular pain and discomfort when you do, digestive upset can take a serious toll on your life.
One benefit of a balanced gut is better efficiency at producing important compounds called short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Your system, especially your intestines, needs SCFAs to regulate the amount of water removed from stool, to keep your bowel movements regular.
When you start taking probiotics and increase the good gut bacteria, those digestive issues should begin to resolve themselves.
One tell-tale sign that your probiotics are working, then, is having better looking and more regular bowel movements.
2. Less Bloating
Another digestive issue associated with a bacterial imbalance is having a bloated belly.
Your gut bacteria produce the enzymes that your body uses to break down certain nutrients, including fiber. If they aren’t broken down, your body simply can’t digest them properly. One of the byproducts of this ineffective digestion is excess gas.
The excess gas in your belly will cause more frequent bloating, stomach cramps, and flatulence. If you’ve been experiencing these uncomfortable symptoms fairly regularly, you’ll likely notice them declining when your probiotics start working.
3. More Balanced Blood Sugar
One of the many jobs of the beneficial bacteria in your gut is to support balanced blood sugar levels. They accomplish this by helping break down the carbohydrates you consume and regulating their release into your bloodstream.
When the bad gut bacteria outnumber the good, your blood sugar levels will be all over the place, spiking and then crashing. This, in turn, leads to cravings for sugary snacks throughout the day.
Bacillus indicus HU36™, the proprietary strain in Just Thrive Probiotic, has a unique ability to produce potent antioxidants—right in your digestive tract, where your body can really use them—that help maintain healthy body mass and insulin levels.
If you notice a positive impact on your sugar cravings, it’s a good sign that your probiotics are working as well as they should be.
4. Better Sleep
Your gut and your brain interact all day long. A perfect example of this is “butterflies” in your stomach when you’re nervous; that’s your brain affecting your gut.
Similarly, having digestive issues can cause anxiety when you’re in public—here, your gut is affecting your brain. This is known as the gut-brain connection or gut-brain axis.
But there are other, less obvious, ways in which your gut and your brain interact.
Believe it or not, your gut health can also impact your sleep patterns. That’s why supporting your gut health can help encourage more restorative sleep.
What does this mean for you? When you get quality, restorative sleep, your body is able to better undertake important maintenance tasks that keep you running at peak performance, such as repairing worn out tissues, manufacturing crucial hormones, and replenishing energy stores.
The strains in Just Thrive Probiotic support healthy hormone levels and neurotransmitter production, which are critical to restorative sleep.
A great sign that your probiotics are working is that you simply feel better, more refreshed, and more energetic when you wake up. So, make sure to check in on those energy levels after beginning your probiotic regimen.
5. Improved Mood
A more balanced mood is, perhaps, one of the most subtle signs probiotics are working for you. But remember the gut-brain axis we discussed earlier? It also affects your mood. In fact, your gut is considered your “second brain.”
- Studies have shown [1] that participants taking probiotics have improved moods and cognition and the ability to stay calm under stressful conditions.
- Also, as noted earlier, probiotics can help you get better quality sleep which contributes to improved mood.
- Finally, digestive issues are linked to mental health as well. Beneficial gut bacteria produce important neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA that help us feel good and relaxed. Therefore, supporting your gut health can also help you experience a greater feeling of well-being and better cope with stress.
6. Immune System Support
Not sure of how your immune system is connected to your gut bacteria? Try this on for size: 70-80% of your immune system is housed in your gut! [2]
When your gut bacteria are balanced and the beneficial “bugs” are thriving, your immune system is able to function optimally. In a state of dysbiosis though (where the bad bacteria outnumbers the good), your immune system can get overworked, confused, and react at the wrong times in the wrong ways—and that makes you much more vulnerable.
Just Thrive Probiotic contains four strains of clinically studied spore probiotics shown to quickly balance gut bacteria and support healthy immune responses.
7. Increased Energy
One of the many jobs of a healthy gut is to help your body absorb the nutrients in your food. If your beneficial bacteria is being crowded out by the bad bacteria, this won’t happen as efficiently.
When your beneficial bacteria are thriving, however, the vitamins and minerals in your food are absorbed more easily. This can lead to increased energy and reduced fogginess when those nutrients kick in, because your body is now absorbing a larger amount of the fuel you need to keep going.
How Quickly Do Probiotics Work?
While some people experience positive benefits in a matter of days, probiotics aren’t always a “quick fix.” As with all aspects of your health, there are a number of different factors that will influence how you feel:
- Diet
- Exercise habits/lifestyle
- Body weight
- Stress management
How quickly you see results will also depend on the challenges you’re currently facing. For example, more common digestive issues may go away in as little as a few days. However, if your issues have been long-term and ongoing, it’s important to be patient. Many experts recommend a minimum of 3 months to determine whether or not a new protocol is working for your body.
To illuminate your results, we recommend keeping a journal to track how you’re feeling. It’s easy to forget how you felt on a specific day and sometimes hard to discern patterns without a record. But when you start tracking how your mind and body feel, you’ll be able to notice even the smallest changes.
If you take the time to really tune in to what your body is telling you, you’ll be able to pick out the signs that probiotics are working for you.
Choose a Clinically Proven, Trusted Probiotic
Remember, the probiotic supplement you choose matters. For the fastest and most optimal results, choose a probiotic supplement formulated with strains that can stand up to anything.
Spore probiotic strains can exist for long periods of time—without refrigeration—in harsh conditions including sunlight, high temperatures, and stomach acids that easily kill off other probiotic bacteria.
Just Thrive Gut Health Products
Just Thrive Probiotic
Just Thrive Probiotic is clinically proven effective thanks to an outer “shell” that protects the probiotics from stomach acid and bile and enzymes in your digestive tract. With 1000x better survivability vs. leading probiotics, they arrive in your gut 100% alive and ready to work!
Keep your gut microbiome in healthy balance with the four thoroughly researched strains of powerful spore probiotics found in Just Thrive: Bacillus Indicus HU36™, Bacillus Coagulans, Bacillus Clausii, and Bacillus Subtilis HU58™.
No more wondering if your probiotic is working! When you try Just Thrive you’ll feel the difference in your digestive health, weight management, sleep, mood, immune health, energy, or all of the above!
>> Try Just Thrive Probiotic TODAY
We are so confident that it’ll work for you, that if for some reason you don’t see a difference in your health, simply ask for a full refund at any time!
All Just Thrive purchases are covered by our Bottom of the Bottle, 100% money back guarantee—even if the bottle is empty!
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