Sunday, June 2, 2013

All about Prebiotics and Probiotics

What are Prebiotics?

Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates such as “fructo-oligosaccharides,” “inulin,” “galacto-oligosaccharides,” and even dietary fiber that many probiotic bacteria consume for food. If you eat more prebiotics you will likely have more good “friendly” bacteria in your intestine.

Non-digestible carbohydrate prebiotics have been studied extensively and have been shown to reduce asthma and eczema in children and, just like probiotics, they are helpful in reducing problems with diarrhea in persons of all ages. According to the Mayo Clinic prebiotics found in a wide variety of fruits, grains, and vegetables can also help normalize bowel function and support a healthy immune system in general. Prebiotics have been shown to hold significant promise for reducing the risk of developing colorectal cancer(6), a disease in my surgical practice that I operate for on a weekly basis.

Unfortunately, numerous factors can disrupt the balance between “good” and “bad” bacteria, and therefore interfere with your body’s natural ability to heal and detoxify itself. Helping to restore intestinal integrity, probiotics work round the clock to balance the “good” and “bad” bacteria within the GI tract, which can easily be upset by chlorinated water, poor elimination of waste, stress, oral contraceptives, a diet rich in refined foods and poor digestion. Antibiotics can also wreak havoc on the gut flora. Try to take antibiotics as infrequently as possible and if you do need to take them be sure to simultaneously supplement with a high quality probiotic.

What are Probiotics? What do Probiotics Do?

Probiotics are “friendly” bacteria that keep you healthy. Probiotics are living good bacteria that stay alive in your intestine after being consumed. These microscopic organisms work hard to alter the overall intestinal environment to a favorable one by crowding out bad bacteria such as viruses that might otherwise dominate and harm health. Even though they are bacteria, probiotics actually help protect your body from infection. Probiotics can stimulate and work with your immune system to improve your health and prevent, or even treat, certain diseases.

Probiotics help with digestion and nutrient absorption. Probiotics enable essential health promoting nutrients to be absorbed that otherwise would not have been able to cross the intestinal wall into the circulatory system. In fact, the depletion of “friendly” probiotics can lead to nutrient depletion and consequently inferior health; if your body can’t utilize the nutrient-dense foods you eat it’s just as bad as not consuming them in the first place. The regular consumption of probiotics will help your body to properly digest, process and utilize the food you eat. Probiotic consumption also increases the bioavailability of minerals, especially calcium.

Probiotics help detoxify and cleanse your body. Probiotics have been shown to support liver function and detoxification. These “friendly” bacteria filter toxins in the gut before they get into the bloodstream. The presence of probiotics speeds up the transfer time of toxic waste in your colon, thus preventing toxins from staying in your body and being reabsorbed in your bloodstream.

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