Probiotics are live microorganisms that are intended to have health benefits when consumed or applied to the body. Although people often think of bacteria and other microorganisms as harmful “germs”, many are actually helpful. The word ‘probiotics’ itself derived from two Latin words pro and biota, which means ‘for life’. Our body contains such a huge volume of microorganisms – which is about ten-fold more of our body’s cell.

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Probiotics play a few vital roles within our body, including modification of the gut microbiota, strengthening gut epithelial barrier and modulation of the immune system to convey an advantage to us. Our digestive system, or gut is fundamental to all aspects of our health. Good gut health is not just linked to good physical health, but mental health as well. Purposely increasing the levels of bacteria in our body may sound strange, but we need the friendly kind, as they can keep the bad bacteria under control. The population including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, the common group of ‘good’ bacteria that can help to restore and replenish the good, natural bacteria in the digestive system. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the most frequently employed in probiotic preparations for human use. A key quality criterion is that they contain accurately defined numbers of viable cells as expressed on the product label.

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The use of probiotics for health benefits is becoming more popular due to the quest for safer products with protective and therapeutic effects against diseases and infectious agents. While single-strain probiotics are beneficial to health, multi-strain probiotics might be more helpful because of synergy and additive effects among the individual isolates. The administration of multi-strain probiotics was revealed to effectively alleviate bowel tract conditions, inhibition of pathogens and modulation of the immune system and gut microbiota.