Originally published July 10 2012
10 reasons to take a probiotic daily
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) Probiotic intake for overall good health has been underestimated by even the alternative health community. The fact is that gut bacteria greatly affects both overall physical and mental health.
There are 400 to 500 species of bacteria residing in your gut or gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which if opened up and laid out flat would cover a tennis court. If placed on a scale, your GI tract bacteria would weigh in at three pounds.
Probiotic bacteria have many more functions than digestion. They trigger immune system reactions throughout the body, including activating T-cells.
Good bacteria need to comprise 85 percent of the intestinal flora while allowing the remaining 15 percent to be pathogenic. Two-thirds or more of the immune system relies on this. (Source 1 below)
You can supplement probiotics with the best supplement online or from a health food store. This is critical if you've gone a round or two with antibiotics for whatever reason. But you have to know what to look for and how to avoid being deceived. (Source 2 below)
Another method of taking in probiotics is through fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, or any other fermented food you can purchase or make yourself. Milk kefir and water kefir are excellent sources of probiotics that can be consumed daily.
Making your own milk or water kefir is not difficult once you get the "starter grains," which can be ordered online or procured from someone in a local Weston A Price Foundation chapter.
A list of YouTube video demos for milk kefirs is in source 3 below, while you can watch water kefir videos from source 4 below.
Ten reasons to consume probiotics
(1) Enhance immunity - a double-blind clinical test involving patients in intensive care proved that viable (alive) probiotics prevented multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), the number one cause of mortality among intensive care patients. (Source 5 below)
If probiotics can do this, what can they do to prevent chronic flues and colds and allergies?
(2) The immune protection of mother's milk is enhanced if the mother takes probiotics during or before pregnancy. If breast feeding is impossible, then adding probiotics and prebiotics (what probiotic bacteria feed on) to a baby formula free from fluoridated water and sweeteners can be tried.
(3) Probiotics can reverse ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and other gut inflammations that occur from a lack of sufficient probiotics.
(4) Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (GS) symptoms are handled by adding probiotics.
(5) Processed foods and low fiber diets allow the pathogenic bacteria to overwhelm the good guys and diminish colon function. It's important to add probiotics even if you drop the standard American diet (SAD).
(6) When pathogenic bacteria upset the 85/15 balance of probiotic to bad bacteria, yeast infections such as Candida flourish.
(7) A healthy gut flora balance helps prevent cancer by nourishing enzymes that inhibit tumor production throughout the body.
(8) Sufficient probiotic intestinal flora prevents radiation damage from X-rays and CT scans to the large and small intestines.
(9) GMOs are used in many processed foods and antibiotics are in lots of our non-organic meat and dairy products. They both destroy probiotic bacteria, making it necessary to add probiotic materials back if you've had any of those foods.
(10) Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride discovered how to cure her son of autism through a diet that restored his probiotic levels and heal his inflammatory conditions. She developed GAPS, gut and psychology syndrome, confirming the connection with gut health and mental health. (Source 6 below)
Sources for this article include:
(1) http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/why-take-probiotics/
(2) http://ezinearticles.com
(3) http://www.google.com
(4) http://www.google.com
(5) http://www.ajcn.org
(6) http://gaps.me/?page_id=20
More details on the 10 reasons can be found here http://www.naturalnews.com/probiotic.html
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