What is Bifidus Good For?

Bifidus is a probiotic, a type of bacteria that's good for your body. Bifidus is good for reducing inflammation, creating vitamins, digesting food, and performing other functions.

If you spend a lot of time in the supplements aisle or even the dairy section, you may have come across the word “Bifidus.” If you don’t know what this means, you aren’t alone. While products like Bifidus are gaining attention in the health industry, often they’re just lumped in with other probiotics.

Your body needs probiotics, like Bifidus, to maintain balance and keep you healthy. Probiotics occur in your body naturally, but there are some situations where taking additional probiotics may help you avoid or reduce an illness.

Bifidus, also called Bifidobacterium, is a type of bacteria naturally found inside the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, including humans. Bifidus is a probiotic, a type of bacteria that’s good for your body.

Normally, bacteria is thought of as something bad that makes you sick. However, some bacteria are “good bacteria” that your body needs to stay healthy and to work properly. To be considered a probiotic, a microbe must:

• Be isolated from a human
• Be safe to eat
• Have a proven benefit
• Survive inside your gastrointestinal system after being eaten

Probiotics live in or on several areas of your body, including:

• Gut
• Lungs
• Mouth
• Skin
• Urinary tract
• Vagina

Bifidus is primarily found in the gut but can also be found within the vaginas of women and those assigned females at birth. While the human gut is home to many different types of probiotics, Bifidus is typically the first to colonize the gut. It’s also the most common bacteria found in the gut of infants.

Because good bacteria are essential for a healthy gastrointestinal system and body, many people purchase probiotic supplements to improve their international microbiome. There are two main types of probiotic supplements found in stores. Bifidobacterium, or Bifidus, is one. The other is Lactobacillus, a probiotic found in dairy and dairy products.

The main role of probiotics like Bifidus is to maintain homeostasis, or a healthy balance, within your body. To do this, Bifidus helps destroy any bad bacteria that may invade your body. Probiotics can also help your body:

• Breakdown and absorb medications
• Control inflammation
• Create vitamins
• Digest food
• Keep bad bacteria under control and prevent you from getting sick
• Support the cells that line your gut to keep bad bacteria from entering your blood

Support your immune system

Your body makes probiotics on its own, and most people don’t need to take supplements. However, some conditions may be helped by taking extra probiotics like Bifidus as a supplement or through food. Many researchers are working to figure out what conditions can be helped by increasing probiotics. So far, evidence suggests additional probiotics may help with:

• Constipation: Several studies have indicated that probiotics help soften stool and increase bowel movements.
• Diarrhea. Research shows that probiotics can make diarrhea go away faster.
• Eczema (atopic dermatitis). Studies have found that taking probiotics helps reduce the “bad” bacteria on the skin that cause eczema.
• Gum disease. Randomized trials indicate that probiotics may have a short-term benefit for gum disease.
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Studies show that probiotics can help relieve symptoms of IBD. One study found that 15 out of 20 patients with ulcerative colitis went into remission after taking a probiotic cocktail.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Multiple studies have found that probiotics, especially Bifidus, can help alleviate symptoms of IBS.
• Lactose intolerance. Evidence shows that probiotics may reduce symptoms of lactose intolerance.
• Sepsis. Sepsis is a condition in which your body has such a strong reaction to an infection that it damages its own tissues. Probiotics have been shown to reduce sepsis, especially in premature infants who have necrotizing enterocolitis. Necrotizing enterocolitis is a condition in which the intestinal tissue dies, sometimes leading to a hole where bacteria leaks through to the belly or bloodstream. There has been concern that additional probiotics may cause or worsen sepsis, but this appears to be very rare.
• Upper respiratory infections: Studies show that probiotics can help prevent and reduce upper respiratory infections.
• Urinary tract infections. Probiotics may help lower infection rates for women with recurrent UTIs.
• Yeast infections. Studies show that probiotics can help prevent and reduce symptoms of yeast infections.

More research needs to be done for many of these conditions to determine how well probiotics help these conditions and which are most effective. However, the research so far indicates that increasing probiotics in the body can help with several ailments.

You have a few options if you want to add more Bifidus or probiotics to your diet. One option is to purchase a probiotic supplement. These can be found at drug stores, specialty shops, and online.

Another option is to purchase food that contains Bifidus and other probiotics. Fermented dairy products, like yogurt, are a great choice for foods with probiotics. Other foods that contain probiotics include:

• Buttermilk
• Cottage cheese
• Fermented pickles
• Fermented sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Kombucha
• Miso soup
• Sourdough bread
• Tempeh

Sometimes, manufacturers will add probiotics like Bifidus to fermented foods and other foods that naturally contain probiotics to boost their appeal. If you aren’t sure if a food has probiotics, check the ingredient list or look for a label that says “live and active cultures.”

Bifidus is a type of good bacteria or probiotic. Probiotics mainly live in the gut and don’t just help keep your digestive system balanced but help with a whole host of body functions to keep you healthy. You can take probiotics as a supplement or choose foods that are naturally high in probiotics if you want to increase the good bacteria in your body.