Probiotics 101

I recently read an article that got a little bit into the importance of digestion health and it got me thinking that it's not a topic I've written about.

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Let me explain a bit more about digestion health, probiotics and why it's important in increase your veggie intake.

We are all constantly exposed to bacteria, medications, antibiotic and antibacterial substances.  Medications and antibiotics we take orally for the most part, and most of these wreak havoc on our intestinal flora.

And it is an unhappy fact that we constantly ingest bacteria that then flourish inside us while at the same time killing of all of the benign germs with antibacterial cleaners.

Add to that the massive amounts of chemicals and pesticides we are exposed to and ingest every day and you can start to see exactly how clogged up our bodies are.

Good health starts with good digestion because that is the only way your body can get the necessary nutrients to keep you healthy and strong enough to fight off disease and better resists these outside toxins.

One way to keep your intestinal tract healthy is by taking probiotics.  Probiotics are the good intestinal flora that help keep the bad bacteria in check.

Probiotics can be taken in capsule or liquid form or in food such as yogurt.

The best capsules or liquid supplements are the ones that need to be refrigerated, although capsules that don't need to be refrigerated are just fine and actually preferable if you are traveling.

However not all yogurt is created equal.  The over produced, hyper colored and over sweetened yogurts are generally teeming with mostly dead cultures and while it won't do you any harm, it's not good for increasing your intestinal flora.  The few that are alive won't make it past your stomach to your intestines, which are the ones that benefit from them the most, before they expire.

Like any living food or organism, probiotics have a life and then they expire.  The more processed a yogurt is the less chance it gets to you live and more importantly the less likely it gets into your intestines still able to do you some good.  

So stick to a yogurt that says something like "live and active cultures".

So that's great but what need to do once you take the probiotics is provide them with the necessary means to stay alive as long as possible.

How do you do this?

With prebiotics.  Prebiotics are non-digestible parts of food that help keep probiotics alive.

Where do you get prebiotics?

From foods with insoluble fiber aka fruits, veggies and grains!

So you can see how it's all related.

Not only is it important to ingest beneficial bacteria but it's important to keep that beneficial bacteria alive in our intestines and working for as long as possible by creating an environment where they can thrive.
For those with Celiac or wheat allergies probiotics can also help you bounce back faster from the effects of accidentally eating wheat.

If you can take control of these things you'll see how much your digestion and overall health improves.