Probiotics: The Missing Link to Improved Mood, Greater Health and Hormonal Optimization

Introduction

I kind of ignored probiotics and gut health for most of my life, but findings from research over the past few years have been insane.

Seriously, since about 2020, the landscape has changed.

My guess is that they ramped up studies due to Covid. Probiotics improve your healthy gut bacteria, which, in turn, help your immune system.

This means you’re less likely to catch any sickness going around.

The improved immunity should have been enough for me to take a probiotic. What pushed me over the edge were all the other benefits that came in addition to improved immunity.

My goal with this article?

To get you up to speed on just how many ways a probiotic can improve your health and mental well-being.

10 Key Benefits of Probiotics

Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide beneficial effects when consumed. Each year that passes, the more benefits science uncovers.

I’m just going to list 10 benefits.

But remember that this isn’t an exhaustive list. These are just some of the key benefits that stood out to me.

1. Aids in Weight Loss and Metabolism

I decided to list this one first because it is probably one of the things I’m most excited about when it comes to probiotics.

Probiotics help you drop fat faster in a calorie deficit.

Probiotics also reduce calories being stored as body fat.

Animal studies show that probiotics can reduce the amount of fat stored in fat cells.  Probiotic treatment resulted in lower insulin levels, leptin, and total cholesterol in obese mice[2].

They also help you gain body fat at a slower rate when you go over in calories.

There is a study where two groups ate in a calorie surplus of 1,000 calories per day. Those who took probiotics gained less than HALF the body fat compared to those who didn’t take a probiotic[3].

Probiotics also have been shown to lower BMI.

There is a massive meta-analysis of 25 studies showing that probiotics can reduce body weight and BMI. They found multiple strains of probiotics had a greater weight loss effect. So, choose a multi-strain probiotic to accelerate fat loss.

2. Improves Gut Health and Digestion

Digestive problems are usually caused by the growth of harmful bacteria in your gut. What happens is the bad bacteria overgrow and overwhelm your gut.

This runaway growth of bacteria can be bad.

It can cause bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. When you take a probiotic, you introduce good bacteria into your gut.

What happens is the good bacteria in the probiotic multiplies.

Over a period of just a few hours, this good bacteria can multiply several times and colonize your gut. This restores balance in your gut. When this happens you are less likely to experience irritation when eating food.

This means less bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation[4].

A balanced gut helps in several other ways.

3. Enhances Nutrient Absorption

I used to think that if I ate 30 grams of protein, my body would use all 30 grams (ideally to build muscle).

This isn’t the case.

It all depends on how healthy your gut bacteria is. If your gut bacteria is unbalanced, it will lead to poor protein digestion.

These are the most essential enzymes for digesting protein.

So if you don’t want to waste the protein in that big strip steak dinner to go to waste, it’s important to maintain good gut health.

Protein is just one of the nutrients probiotics help you digest.

They can improve the absorption of vitamins and minerals crucial to good health.

4. Supports Immune Function

I used to date a girl who took antibiotics whenever she got sick, and she wound up getting sick often. She’d go to the doctor as soon as she felt the first sign of sickness.

I think people rely too heavily on antibiotics

They are overprescribed.

People will go to the doctor as soon as they get sick or have only been sick for a day or two. They don’t give their body a chance to fight the infection. They wind up getting sick often.

The problem with antibiotics is they weaken your immune system[6].

Probiotics are the opposite of antibiotics.

If you have taken an antibiotic recently, I highly recommend taking probiotics to replenish your healthy gut bacteria.

If you have to take an antibiotic?

The NIH recommends taking a probiotic[7] at the same time.

Probiotics help strengthen your immune system in a few ways. One of those ways is by interacting with immune cells in the intestines, enhancing their ability to fight off pathogens.

They also stimulate cells that kill viruses and bacteria like T cells and other natural cell killers[8].

If you have taken an antibiotic in the past, your gut flora has likely been weakened.

I’d recommend taking a probiotic to restore gut balance.

5. Helps Reduce Inflammation

Probiotics can help reduce inflammation by increasing the production of short-chain fatty acids. These short-chain fatty acids are made when probiotics digest fiber in your diet.

These fatty acids reduce inflammation.

There are also 2 specific probiotics that are best at lowering inflammation directly.

• Bifidobacterium Bifidum
• Lactobacillus Acidophilus

All effective probiotic formulations should contain these two strains.

These probiotic strains interact with immune cells and reduce inflammatory signaling molecules.

Chronic inflammation can lead to diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, heart disease, and cancer.

Probiotics can help prevent inflammation, possibly making it less likely of developing these conditions.

6. Promotes Hormonal Balance

Most of the readers of this blog are interested in gaining muscle and staying lean. Hormones play a crucial role here especially testosterone.

This is why Kino Mojo is now our best-selling supplement.

Probiotics help with hormones as well. One of the ways they help is by regulating cortisol[9].

Cortisol and testosterone have an antagonistic relationship.

Studies have shown that chronically elevated cortisol levels get in the way of testosterone production in men[10].

Probiotics can help lower this elevated cortisol.

Probiotics help women as well.

There has been research showing that probiotics are especially helpful in alleviating some of the perimenopausal hormonal symptoms women go through.

7. Improves Mood and Mental Health

Recent research shows that probiotics are associated with significantly reducing depression in people with major depressive disorder[11]. There have also been studies showing how probiotics can help with general anxiety[12].

There’s a gut and brain connection.

The gut and brain send signals to each other through part of the central nervous system called the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is part of your autonomic nervous system. It guides involuntary movements like breathing, heartbeat, and digestion.

It also affects mood.

This is a somewhat new area of research, but the positive antidepressive effects of probiotics are starting to show promise[13].

8. Increases Energy Levels

Gut problems can cause low levels of inflammation.

This can affect your mood and energy levels, making you feel more fatigued than normal. Studies have shown that individuals with lower bacterial diversity in the guts report higher physical fatigue [14].

Probiotics also improve nutrient absorption.

Some probiotic strains even produce vitamins B and K. These are necessary for energy production.

Probiotics have also been shown to improve sleep quality.

Good sleep not only leads to better energy levels but it also positively affects muscle growth, fat loss, mood, and overall health.

9. Supports Heart Health

Probiotics lower LDL cholesterol levels, specifically Lactobacillus reuteri[15]. It does this in two ways.

• Increases cholesterol removal from the body into the stool
• Increases the breakdown of cholesterol in the liver

Probiotics have also been shown in recent studies to lower blood pressure. It seems most effective with the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains[16].

As I pointed out before, probiotics decrease inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is a major risk factor for heart disease. Inflammation also damages blood vessels over time.

10. Benefits Skin Conditions Like Acne, Eczema

One of the things that causes acne is an imbalance of skin bacteria.

Taking a probiotic along with acne medication has been shown to reduce acne more than medicine alone[17].

Probiotics have also been shown to strengthen the skin barriers.

This locks in moisture, which improves the appearance of the skin, but also keeps irritants out. This is one way it can reduce acne and eczema breakouts[18].

It’s possible that probiotics can even help with psoriasis.

People with psoriasis typically have higher amounts of inflammation-causing bacteria in their intestines. There’s a 2012 case study of a woman taking the probiotic Lactobacillus. Her psoriasis began to clear when no other treatments worked[19].

Probiotic Strains Explained

There are several species of bacteria that are used as probiotics.

Not all strains are created equal.

Here’s a quick summary.

Differences Between Strains

The two main types of probiotics are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

• Lactobacillus species tend to survive better as they travel through the digestive system.
• Bifidobacterium species are excellent at colonizing the intestines and interacting with our immune system.

To get the maximum benefit, it is essential to get each of these types of probiotics… and both of these probiotics have several variants or strains.

Most Common Strains

Some of the most extensively studied and widely used probiotic strains include:

There are many more strains.

These are the 9 strains that tend to be the most researched and proven.

Choosing a Quality Probiotic

When you are looking for a quality probiotic, you need to keep a few things in mind.

You want diverse strains, a high CFU count (10-25 Billion per serving), researched strains, and a proper delivery system.

This exactly describes Kinobody Probiotics.

I hand-selected 6 well-researched strains to create what I believe is the ideal probiotic formulation.

When we were coming up with this formulation, I knew fat loss and nutrient (protein) absorption were the big goals.

When you store less food as body fat, and you utilize almost all the protein you eat, it leads to better body composition.

More muscle and less fat.

This is a big deal, as is the hormonal impact of a healthy gut.

I talk a lot about maximizing testosterone on this website, and too high of cortisol can mess with your testosterone levels.

Probiotics can lower chronically high levels of cortisol.

But it goes beyond that.

One of the strains included in our formula, Lactobacillus Reuteri, has been called “The Ultimate Probiotic for Testosterone”[20].

This same strain has been shown to increase blood levels of vitamin D3 by 25%[21].

This is just 1 of the 6 strains we use in Kinobody Probiotics.

I’ve been using this formula for only the past month and noticing a difference.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been this lean, and to be honest, it’s been pretty darn effortless.

Kinobody Probiotics have helped.

I’m not saying this is all from taking the probiotics, but I know it has contributed to hitting this lean condition.

Specifically, probiotics increase leptin sensitivity.

• When your brain can properly detect leptin, you feel full faster.
• Probiotics also lower ghrelin, reducing hunger and cravings, especially for sugar and carbs.

So, I simply have fewer cravings.

Probiotics also beneficially alter gut bacteria tied to fat storage, insulin sensitivity, and metabolism.

I was very particular about our strains and that our formula colonizes the gut properly.

• We picked 6 stable strains with high survival rates that don’t require refrigeration and have proven to work when taken in a capsule.
• We included a prebiotic, Jerusalem Artichoke Root, that “feeds” our 6 probiotic strains once they hit the gut.

Jerusalem Artichoke Root is a potent source of inulin fiber.

This inulin fiber feeds and stimulates the growth of the probiotics and helps them rapidly increase their populations in your gut.

Our capsule delivery system ensures these 6 strains reach your gut.

The inulin fiber prebiotic then amplifies the gut and health benefits of these probiotics.

Bottom line?

Our probiotic formula is incredibly effective.

Check it out here—> Kinobody Probiotics.