Probiotics

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Add These to Your Regimen: Probiotics

July 17, 2013 by Melanie Zook

We’ve all seen the yogurt commercials with celebrities touting the health benefits of “live active cultures,” but what does this mean, how are they beneficial to your health, and where (besides yogurt) can you find them?

Probiotics (which literally means “for life”) are “good” bacteria that live in your intestines (there are 400-500 different species of bacteria in your digestive tract) and contribute to health in several ways.  First, they help fight off harmful bacteria in the gut, aid in digestion (including the absorption of some nutrients) and boost immunity.  It’s been estimated that 70% of your immune system is in your gut!  They have an anti-inflammatory role and have also been found to help with diarrhea, yeast and urinary tract infections, and irritable bowel syndrome.  Other studies have also found probiotics effective in reducing allergies, respiratory infections, c. difficile infections & dental caries.  There’s also potential for probiotics to slow the progression of cancer & even promote weight loss.

Here’s another article from the Huffington Post summarizing how our guts are linked to our overall health.

It’s important to keep the good bacteria in your body flourishing.  Probiotics are important to take when on antibiotics since antibiotics kill both harmful and good bacteria.  A study from Stanford University School of Medicine showed just two rounds of antibiotics can wipe out probiotics in the digestive tract for up to six months after finishing the prescription.  That good bacteria is then replaced by bad bacteria.  Diarrhea & urinary tract infections may be the first signs of this.  Other health problems can arise, usually linked to nutrient deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, and less resistance to the common cold/flu.

Signs of a bacterial imbalance may include:

If the good bacteria in your system is killed off, your body does not remake them, so it is important to help your body accumulate them again through food & supplements.  Adding a probiotic can help to re-establish the beneficial bacteria in the gut that has been lost.

First, there are many foods you can eat if you’d like to add probiotics to your daily routine:

While probiotics are naturally occurring in most of these fermented foods and a great addition to your diet, they may not contain as many good bacteria as you would find in a probiotics supplement.  According to a 2013 study in Gut Microbes, adults with inflammatory diseases (psoriasis, chronic fatigue syndrome, ulcerative colitis) supplemented for 6-8 weeks and found a significant reduction in inflammatory markers.

How to choose (and use) a probiotics supplement?

Not all supplements are created equal, so be sure to keep these tips in mind when choosing a probiotic supplement:

Recommended probiotic supplements to try.

All of these are shelf-stable, so do not require refrigeration):

Two ways to order…

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