Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis.

I'm a doctor and I specialize in
medical nutrition and metabolic disorders.

Today, I'm talking about probiotics.

I'm presenting you their health benefits

and how you can introduce them
into your diet,

in order to enjoy these benefits.

Our bowel contains bacteria.

In fact, it contains too many bacteria,

which can't be measured in hundreds,
thousands of hundreds,

millions or billions.

They're so many that we can
measure them in real weight.

It has been estimated that our bowel
contains 1.5-2 kg of bacteria.

If you think about it, it's a huge number.

Every time you get on the scale, estimate

that 1.5-2 kg of the number you see
are the bacteria of your bowel.

These bacteria play a vital part
in our health,

this is why scientists aptly called them
probiotics 100 years ago.

"Pro" is used as a prefix
for something that promotes.

And "bios" means life, health.

Therefore, we're talking about bacteria
that help our health.

Probiotics help our health in many ways.

Today, I won't focus on the ways
in which they help us,

but on the result,
namely their health benefits.

In the two medical nutrition centres that
I've been leading for the last 20 years,

I often deal with patients
suffering from diarrhoea.

This diarrhoea is not the same
as the diarrhoea caused by gastroenteritis,

but it's loose or unformed stools.

The first line of treatment for this condition
is the change of diet,

namely the identification of the foods
that contribute to this condition

and their avoidance.

In the vast majority of these cases,
this solves the problem.

A small percentage of cases, however,
needs supplementary probiotics,

usually for a short period of time,

in order to fix the problem.

Many studies claim that probiotics
help in such cases.

Of course, probiotics also help in cases
of acute diarrhoea,

namely for people suffering
from gastroenteritis

who want to reduce the intensity,
duration and frequency of the symptoms.

The second very important benefit
of probiotics,

which is hard to imagine for most people,

is the effect of probiotics
on our brain function.

Many studies have proven
that probiotics really help us

reduce stress and improve our mood.

It's impressive that these microorganisms
living in our bowel

produce substances
that go through the bowel,

reach our brain and affect
its function and our mood too.

Probiotics also help us
keep our heart healthy.

Studies have been published that claim

that probiotics reduce bad cholesterol,
namely LDL,

and may increase good cholesterol,
namely HDL.

Moreover, they seem to greatly help
reduce blood pressure.

The total result is the improvement
of the heart's function on the whole.

The effect of probiotics on the function
of our gastrointestinal system

is more directly comprehensible.

Many studies have been carried out
on the effect of probiotics

on the progress of the symptoms
of the irritable bowel syndrome,

what we used to call spastic colitis.

Probiotics have been proven
to greatly help reduce the symptoms.

Probiotics reduce pain, bloating
and the disorders of the bowel movements

that are related
to the irritable bowel syndrome.

Probiotics also help
in more serious bowel conditions.

The strongest scientific data
on probiotics until now

concern ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease
that affects the large intestine

and usually manifests
with bowel movement disorders.

Probiotics, especially those combining
a variety and a large number of strains,

in the range of hundreds of billions,

significantly help stop the outbreak
of the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.

Regarding Crohn's disease,
the results are less impressive.

However, taking account
of the safety profile of probiotics,

it's not a bad idea
to try them for a period of time

and find out if there's any improvement.

Probiotics also play a very important role

in the proper function of the immune system.

Various studies have shown that probiotics
benefit the immune system in many ways.

This is more obvious in conditions
such as allergies, eczema and psoriasis.

Many studies have been published

showing that the long-term use
of the appropriate probiotics

helps reduce the symptoms
of psoriasis in adult people.

On the other hand,
for small children and infants,

many studies have shown that the
administration of the appropriate probiotics

in the appropriate dosage

significantly contributes to the reduction
of eczema in infants and children.

Finally, mainly for children
and adolescents,

it has been proven that the use
of the appropriate probiotics

can reduce the intensity
of the symptoms of seasonal allergy,

as well as the number of asthma attacks.

Probiotics also help in the infections
of the genitourinary system.

The genitourinary system, namely
the urinary and the reproductive system,

often suffer from infections

and in many cases,
bowel bacteria play an important role.