Gastrointestinal Health

The Purpose of Poo

As you read this, your body is working hard to:

• Clear waste produced during its normal, healthy activities
• Remove compounds (e.g. hormones) from circulation that have completed their tasks
• Neutralise toxins that can harm your body, and
• Fight off pathogens (infectious organisms) that could otherwise make you sick

Once it’s completed these tasks, the next step is to eliminate these unwanted substances. It does this by packaging them up and sending them to your intestines to be eliminated in your poo! 

You may be familiar with the concept that certain medications (particularly antibiotics) can disrupt your gut microbiome, impacting the balance of beneficial organisms (such as bacteria, yeasts, etc.) in the gut. For this reason, probiotics are commonly recommended following antibiotic therapy to restore the gut microbiome and support digestive and overall health.

A new study that challenges this notion has been in the media spotlight; however taking a closer look at the research, these findings do not reflect the current body of evidence that strongly supports the use of evidence-based, strain-specific probiotics for restoration of the microbiome and delivering specific health benefits.