What Do You Know About Probiotics

“What Do You Know About Probiotics?”

With the prefix ‘pro’ – which means ‘for’ – it would be logical to assume that probiotics are good, and they are! The word ‘biotic’ means ‘life’, so probiotics are for life. Often called the ‘friendly bacteria’, scientists believe that probiotics are as important in this century as antibiotics were in the last. And I go along with the scientists’ belief. My feeling is that probiotics are the unsung hero of wellness. Following is a list of functions performed by probiotics, both our own natural ones and high quality supplements. NOTE: Not all probiotics are created equally. I’ll address that in more detail in a subsequent blog.

There are more than 30 functions our own bacteria and the very finest supplemental probiotics perform. In the interest of brevity, I’m listing here (in alphabetical order) some of the more important health issues that probiotics can help stem:

·         Acid reflux, heartburn, and GERD by helping food digest better

·         Acne, psoriasis, and eczema by helping control causes

·         Allergy and/or food sensitivity by keeping your stomach lining healthy

·         Arthritis due to the anti-inflammatory action of probiotics

·         Asthma due to the anti-inflammatory action of probiotics

·         Bone density loss by improving absorption of minerals and making vitamin K

·         Depression by helping release good bacteria which serve as a natural antidepressant

·         Diabetes by helping preclude inflammation of the pancreas

·         Diarrhea by fighting harmful organisms causing it

·         Gum disease by reducing harmful bacteria

·         Glaucoma by helping control bacteria such as H. Pylori, a known cause of this eye disease

·         Inflammatory bowel disease and colitis by reducing inflammation and ‘leaky gut’

·         Liver disease by helping detoxify the gut, thus reducing load on liver function

·         Migraine by helping suppress H. Pylori bacteria, also a cause of cluster headaches

·         Ulcers by suppressing H. Pylori bacteria

·         Urinary tract / vaginal infections by fighting harmful organisms

So, as you can see, probiotics not only perform dozens of important functions in helping prevent disease, but they are truly essential to life…to living ‘well’, i.e., without sickness. We get some of our natural probiotics at birth, and some still come from fermented foods we might consume, but processed foods and our modern life in general actually forces us to get some probiotics via supplements. I would be happy to advise you on the most effective probiotics available to help you toward a life of wellness. Contact me through my website, and we’ll work together on getting you on a path to a healthy life.

As you can see, there is much information out there about the goodness of probiotics which I will delve more into in future editions. Check out my blog regularly for more information about probiotics and other nutritional data. For more information about NES see www.NutritionEducationServices.com.