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Four Ways Probiotics Help You
By Dr. Karen Yale B.A., D.C., C.C.N., D.A.C.B.N.
Gas. Diarrhea. Bloating. Constipation. If this sounds like you, you’re far from alone. Millions of Americans suffer from digestive distress. In fact, it accounts for 15.2 million emergency room visits every year. And it’s no wonder. With 25 feet of a gastro-intestinal tract a lot can go wrong. That’s why more people are supplementing their diet with probiotics.
Your hard-working digestive system
Your digestive system actually performs six basic processes: ingestion, secretion, propulsion, digestion, absorption and defecation. Other organs like your liver, pancreas, gall bladder and more aid in this process. Most of us don’t think about how important the digestive system is to our overall health. We use it 24 hours every day to obtain the nutrients and energy our bodies need for physical and mental activity. At one point or another, most of us have mistreated our digestive system. We eat too much, we drink too much, we don’t exercise, we skip meals. And, when we do eat, oftentimes the food and nutrition our body craves, is not what we feed it.
Good-for-you-bacteria
We’ve all been trained to bristle when we hear the word bacteria, but the fact is, not all bacteria is bad. The human body contains several hundreds of strains of naturally occurring bacteria, mostly in the colon, to help aid digestion. A typical human has about ten times more bacterial cells than human cells. There’s so much intestinal flora activity, it’s considered to be equal to the liver.
Healthy bacteria works in your system to:
• Produce certain digestive enzymes
• Help digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats
• Increase calcium assimilation
• Synthesize B complex vitamins and vitamin K
• Complete the digestion of foods through fermentation
• Alleviate lactose intolerance symptoms
• Help neutralize toxins
• Strengthen the immune system
• Counter allergies and skin problems
• Prevent yeast and fungal infections
• Normalize bowel movements
• Produce natural anti-bacterial agents
• Reduce unhealthy bacteria in the GI tract
Why Probiotics?
Probiotics literally meaning “for life,” are live microorganisms that when ingested, survive passage through the GI tract and result in health benefits. Most probiotics are the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains.
Typically the number of these bacteria is in the billions and is expressed in CFUs, or colony forming units. In supplements, these CFUs are live cells that have been freeze dried and become activated when ingested.
In earlier times the intake of probiotic bacteria in yogurt, buttermilk, cheese, kefir, and fermented vegetables, such as pickles or sauerkraut, was high. Fermentation, the previous method of food preservation, today has been replaced by pasteurization, the use of refrigerators and freezers. In addition, a diet poor in fiber but rich in refined products like sugar, overuse of food preservatives, and antibiotics dramatically reduce the intake of probiotic bacteria.
Four Ways Probiotics Can Help You
1. Helps move toxins out of your system efficiently. The average American has 5-10 pounds of decaying fecal matter, 8 meals of undigested food and numerous toxins, heavy metals and food preservatives clogging the colon. The longer these toxins stay in your system, the longer your exposure to their potential harmful effects.
2. Enhances health and well being. Besides the obvious stomach complaints, poor digestion can also lead to weight gain, fatigue, and even bad breath.
3. Boosts immune system. About 70 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive tract. For years experts have recommended that friendly bacteria through a probiotic can help keep you strong.
4. Restores proper intestinal balance. Diet, stress and aging can cause an imbalance in your digestive tract. While antibiotics are extremely beneficial to our modern society, they often kill off the good bacteria right along with the bad, leaving your intestinal tract ill-equipped to properly digest food and absorb nutrients.
You only have one digestive system and it needs to last a lifetime. So take good care of it by eating healthy, getting enough fiber, and giving it the nutritional support it needs.
For more information, check out these sites:
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/
http://www.ific.org/publications/factsheets/preprobioticsfs.cfm
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/
http://www.fbhc.org/Patients/Modules/harmeff.cfm
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration.
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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