Can lactose-intolerant children consume probiotics?

Probiotics help to restore and maintain healthy microflora of gut. Probiotics improve bowel movement and stool consistency. However, in chronic constipation, they need to be combined with enough intake of fiber, water, regular exercise and overall healthy diet and lifestyle.

Our intestines harbour trillions of bacteria which are living in harmony with our body. These bacteria form part of a huge ecological community in our digestive tract known as the gut microbiota. Many of the colonies are commensal in nature and some even help to produce vitamin K which is essential to the body. Overall, we need these bacteria to maintain normal gut digestive and absorption functions. Probiotics belong to the group of bacteria we classified as "non-pathogenic" and they can help our microbiota in maintaining gut health in many situations.