Having a digestive system teeming with bacteria is essential to good health. If we were to go by advertisements on the television we would think that the only consequence of having a poor bacterial balance is that middle-aged women get bloated and constipated. But good gut bacteria is much more important than just addressing bloating and constipation (although it can be very effective).
An article on probiotic supplements and weight loss:
http://www.naturalnews.com/043863_probiotics_weight_loss_women.html
A 2010 article from The Daily Mail:
A reasonable overview of the subject and research studies from Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic
Probiotics are micro-organisms that live in the gut of all animals. Probiotics are the good or friendly bacteria. Our gut bacteria also includes pathogenic or bad bacteria: the ratio of good to bad should be 80/20. A study conducted by Cambridge University some years ago found that the vast majority of people in the study had around 80% bad bacteria and only 20% good.
Probiotics form a major part of our immune system, they aid digestion, facilitate absorption of nutrients and synthesise some nutrients. A diet rich in plant foods will support the body to produce adequate numbers of its own good bacteria.
There are many consequences to having insufficient good bacteria in the gut:
- Bloating
- Excessive Flatulence
- Constipation
- Compromised Immune System
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Diarrhoea
- Nutritional Deficiencies
- Recurrent Yeast Infections
- Bacterial Vaginosis
- Recurrent UTIs (urinary tract infections)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Colitis
- Allergies and intolerances
Modern life is not conducive to maintaining healthy levels of good bacteria in the gut. Whilst this list is not exhaustive it serves to give you some idea just how many threats there are to healthy bowels.
- Antibiotics
- Stress
- Cigarettes
- Poor Diet
- Too Much Sugar
- Pregnancy
- Anti-bacterial household cleaners
- Chlorine in tap water
- Chronic Diarrhoea
- Chronic Constipation
- Good quality miso
- A diet rich in leafy green vegetables
- Fermented foods such as Korean Kimchi and Sauerkraut
- Natural, full fat, live yoghurt
- Kefir
- Kombucha
Although The Daily Mail article suggests chossing the most expensive probiotic supplement this does not always get the desired result. Keeping bacteria live is a tricky process and many probiotic supplements don't have any live bacteria by the time you buy them. One premium brand which costs around £30 was found to have no live bacteria at all when tested in a laboratory.
All the probiotics I sell are guaranteed to contain the level of live bacteria indicated a year after the date of manufacture.
Your gut contains trillions of bacteria in a wide variety of strains. Some are acid forming (such as acidophilous) and work best for the upper digestive tract and others are alkaline and better suited to the mildly alkaline environment of the large intestine. It makes sense therefore to choose a probiotic supplement with a variety of different strains.
Go Daily - A fibre supplement with five strains of probiotics, prebiotics (which support the gut to produce its own bacteria), L-glutamine (to soothe and restore) and digestive enzymes (to boost digestion). A natural, effective, value for money product.
Useful for:
- When you first start taking probiotics as Go Daily produces an environment which is conducive to colonisation by good bacteria.
- To ease constipation
- Bloating
- Indigestion
- As part of an anti-candida regime
- Speed up sluggish bowels
- Supplement a diet lacking in fibre
- Mild diarrhoea
- Diverticular disease
- Atkins Diet Support
- IBD
- Briliant for diabetics (slows the release of sugars into the blood stream - I have had lots of clients who found the were able to significantly reduce their insulin intake when taking Go Daily)
- As part of a colon cleanse
- To support weight loss
- Before and after colonic irrigation
Beneficial Bacteria - 8 strains of bacteria with 4 billion live organisms guaranteed 1 year after manufacture.
- Useful to restore healthy levels of gut bacteria.
- Remedy for bloating
- Anxiety and Depression
- As part of an anti-candida regime
- Post colonic irrigation
- As part of a detox or colon cleanse
Interna-Calm - A high dose (5 billion live organisms per capsule) probiotic yeast containing saccharomyces boulardii which is resistant to antibacterial agents and antibiotics.
Useful for:
- Coeliacs
- Travel Diarrhoea
- Chronic Diarrhoea
- People taking antibiotics
- Vegans
Probiotic Max - Eight strains of bacteria and 20 billion live organisms (guaranteed 12 months from date of manufacture) per capsule.
Useful for:
- Post Antibiotic use
- In the later stages of an anti-candida regime
- As a periodic boost to your probiotic supplement regime
- Gut dysbiosis
- For travel diarrhoea
