What Happens When You Stop Taking Probiotics?

Probiotics are healthy microorganisms, like the beneficial gut bacteria in our body.

People take them as dietary supplements to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut and support overall well-being.

When you stop taking probiotics, the healthy gut bacteria may reduce in number, and the balance of bacteria in your gut may be disturbed.

This can cause several digestive problems, such as constipation, diarrhea, gas, and bloating.

Furthermore, reducing the number of healthy gut bacteria may affect the immune system and weaken its ability to fight infection and illness.

It is generally advised to continue taking probiotics for as long as they are beneficial to you and to consult your doctor if you have any concerns or questions.

What Are Probiotics?

Probiotics are living microbes that researchers believe can impact the health of your gut microbiome.

The optimal balance of bacteria in your gut plays a significant role in a broad range of bodily systems and functions, from your mental health to your immunity.

Probiotic + greens supplements are used to improve the healthy structure of the gut microbiome and offer vital functions to gut microbial communities to avoid intestinal or systemic diseases and gut inflammation.

The supplements carry live organisms, with one dose possibly carrying a heavy dose of multiple or single probiotic strains.

Probiotics help restore the intestinal environment; when excessive bad bacteria exist in the body, the good/ beneficial bacteria help get rid of the harmful bacteria to rebuild the gut balance to its normal state.

Besides maintaining the balance between good and bad bacteria, good bacteria keep you healthy by preventing inflammation and sustaining your immunity.

Related: Check out my Popular superfood powders for gut health

What Are The Benefits Of Taking Probiotics?

Probiotic bacteria are healthy for your gut, which is crucial for your health.

They may be specifically beneficial in particular circumstances, such as when you’re consuming antibiotics for an infection or as a precautionary measure before or after surgery.

There is still data on the perks of probiotic supplements in otherwise healthy individuals.

The results of taking probiotics regularly depend on the form of bacteria, the number of particular bacteria in the supplement, and that individual's health.

Research in 2018 found that probiotic supplements could be highly beneficial for adults, particularly men. (Source)

The healthy bacteria in your gut offer a massive range of benefits, including synthesizing crucial vitamins such as the B vitamins riboflavin and thiamine, food digestion, water absorption, and eliminating dangerous bacteria that can disturb your gut microbiome.

Here are some primary benefits of taking probiotics:

Optimal Weight

They facilitate optimal nutrient absorption and digestion and increase the production of short-chain fatty acids by decomposing fiber, which is indigestible by our body.

It is also believed that particular probiotics limit the absorption of dietary fat, enhancing the amount of fat excreted in the stool.

Gut Balance

They support a healthy balance of gut bacteria in your body. (Source)

Bacteria like lactobacillus, streptococcus, and bifidobacterium.

The good bacteria in your gut flora protect the cells inside the intestine from penetrating pathogens by breaking them down or crowding them out.

Probiotics also repair damaged tissues and build cells that keep your intestinal lining in better condition.

Immunity

As our gut is the gateway to our health.

Good bacteria in our gut develop a healthy inflammatory response to harmful bacteria.

Chronic inflammation is the root cause of autoimmunity, so preventing it is crucial for optimal health.

Related: Can Prebiotics and Probiotics Be Taken Together?

What Happens When You Start Taking Probiotics?

If your gut is optimally balanced, you won't notice any benefits from probiotics.

There can be some of your family members whose guts are ideally healthy with or without products.

Probiotics are incredibly helpful for individuals who deal with bloating, excessive gas, constipation, abdominal cramping, or diarrhea somewhat regularly.

If your physician determines these aren't the signs of a severe underlying condition, probiotics can support digestive regularity and reduce pain.

Probiotics can significantly impact digestive health in as little as one month.

You also observe a decrease in bloating or gas as they start to work.

You may also notice shifts in your bathroom habits.

So, here’s the answer to “what happens when you start taking probiotics?”

Probiotics also improve how your body works and aid in regulating bowel movements.

As everybody's gut composition is different, these health impacts can also be different. (Source)

What Happens When You Stop Taking Probiotics?

It’s hard to predict how your body responds to a probiotic because no two individuals’ gut microbiome is the same.

There may be harm, benefits, or no changes at all.

That's why it's better to consider whether they affect your body.

Did your bowel movements change?

Did you get over that fever faster than usual?

Did the chronic inflammation relieve earlier than expected?

Or did you feel no changes than before?

Then stopping might not have any effect.

If you're concerned about “should you take a break from probiotics or not,” you should recall why you started taking them first.

People usually take probiotics to fix something, whether regular bowel movements, poor digestion, or restoring a good quantity of bacteria after a round of antibiotics.

Once the reason for taking them is gone, they stop taking them.

Some people are fine after stopping probiotics, while others notice symptoms showing up again. (Source)

Conclusion

Probiotics are live microorganisms that keep your microbiome healthy when taken in decent quantity.

They can help alleviate diarrhea, bloating, unwanted weight gain, stomach pain, and low energy.

Most importantly, if you stop taking probiotics, it doesn't cause dangerous side effects and will probably not impact your health. In some instances, it may cause some mild but temporary effects.