A Few Facts about Probiotics

Probiotics, Probiotics, Probiotics and the great benefits they can provide to your digestive system. That’s all we seem to see on TV these days. But.. do you really understand what they are and the difference between probiotic and prebiotic?

What do Probiotics do ... (It’s a Zoo down there!)
Our intestines are loaded with around 500 different types of bacteria, some good and some bad and some ugly. Probiotics are the “friendly” bacteria that hang out on the walls of your intestines.

Probiotics work with enzymes to break down and digest your food, but they also help to process waste, and keep unfriendly bacteria, yeasts and fungii in check. Probiotics work with your immune system by preventing bad bacteria (like H. Pylori & Salmonella) as well as yeast and fungi (like Candida) from grogetting out of control . Probiotics are actually your first line of defense against bacterial related disease. When unfriendly bacteria enter your digestive tract, probiotics recognize them as the bad guys (it’s the black hats that are the giveaway) and immediately attack them. Thus, probiotics greatly enhance your immune system!
Probiotics also manufacture essential vitamins and hormones, egulate their levels, and in their spare time, maintain the pH of our entire digestive system. So we are entirely dependent on the ‘bugs in our guts’!


Probiotics and what can hurt them. ...

Pharmaceuticals
Antibiotics don’tdiscriminate between good and bad bacteria. They kill everything. Other drugs like antacids, laxatives, birth control pills, and steroidal / hormonal drugs can also harm your probiotics. When this happens, your intestines may lose their protective layers, becoming dangerously vulnerable to invasion by ‘bad-guy’ bacteria. Once the bad guys take over in your intestines, they can easily enter the bloodstream and infect any organ in your body. Lack of probiotics may cause you to become more prone to infectious disease, digestive problems such as constipation or diarrhea, and malnourishment.

Foods & Chemicals
Other things that can kill your probiotics and skew the balance of your digestive system include fluoride, coffee/tea, vinegar, carbonated drinks, chlorine, man-made vitamins, and preservatives (in food).

When you consume meat, you're also eating the pathogenic bacteria in the meat which harm probiotics.

Foods high in yeast and fungus and foods that feed yeast also kill probiotics. Intestinal yeasts and fungi produce antibacterial chemicals (penicillin comes from fungus). In the same regard, Probiotics produce chemicals that attack yeast. So there's an ongoing war in your intestinal tract . When bad bacteria and yeast begin to outnumber your probiotic bacteria, the probiotics lose the war.

Are you depleted in Probiotics .?
Symptoms of probiotic deficiency are numerous, and are related to almost every known illness. Most commonly, insufficient levels of probiotics can lead to candida overgrowth which results in perforation of the intestinal wall, A.K.A. "leaky gut". This allows undigested food particles and harmful microbes to enter the bloodstream and abdominal cavity.

Bladder infections, yeast infections, gas, bloating, nausea, constipation and diarrhea may all be signs of an imbalance in intestinal flora.

The extensive and varied roles probiotics play in health have caused leading researchers in Europe to claim that as much as 80% of all degenerative diseases result from Probiotic deficiency. Keeping your probiotics winning the war...

Today, given the many unnatural factors that reduce probiotic populations, it has come to the fact that the only way to keep your probiotic levels high in a consistent manner is to keep introducing them into your diet while keeping your yeast and bad bacteria levels low.
You could take a whole bottle of a probiotic supplement in one sitting, but if your intestines are full of yeast and anaerobic bacteria, then the probiotics from the supplement won't live long.

Here's an 8 step battle plan that will keep your probiotics healthy and thriving:

1. Reduce your consumption of meat to one serving per day. Cook your meat will in order to kill off the pathogenic bacteria in it.

2. Reduce or eliminate processed sugars and simple sugars...they feed intestinal yeasts.

3. Reduce your consumption of foods that contain gluten - this includes oatmeal and wheat. Yeasts love gluten.

4. Eliminate or reduce foods that contain or feed yeasts. This includes breads, baked goods, crackers, beer, foods that contain yeast or yeast extract (many packaged foods do), malt, modified corn starch, and hydrolized proteins.

5. Increase your consumption of raw vegetables, nuts and legumes which contain probiotics. At least 3 servings is optimal. Drinking a green drink like Core Greens or pH Ion counts as a serving.

6. Increase your consumption of gluten free complex carbs like rice, potatoes, spelt, buckwheat, millet and quinoa. These will help feed your probiotics while starving yeasts.

7. Increase your intake of cultured dairy like kefir and yogurt. However...beware that most commercial yogurts contain modified corn starch which feeds yeast. Look for truly "natural" brands.

8. Look for a multi-strain probiotic supplement and take it every night preferably with a prebiotic fibre complex. (Prebiotics are fibres that feed Probiotics and cause them to grow and colonize at a faster rate. When you take your Probiotic supplement along with Probiotic fibre, the bacteria get "carried" to your intestinal tract by the fibre as well.
.(with thanks to pHIon)