The probiotic debate

The Probiotic Debate

People use probiotics for various reasons; their digestion is
impaired or sluggish and probiotics help. They may have candida
overgrowth from continuous uses of antibiotic or anti
bacterial/antiseptic agents.While consuming a probiotic restores the
bacteria flora that lives in the digestive system, continued use of
the probiotics relieves the symptoms while masking the original cause
of the problem, and the continued ignoring of the cause of the
problem will ultimately result in poor health down the line.

If a person finds herself with little flora remaining in her
digestive system, a single dosage of probiotics should help restore
the flora, and no successive applications of the probiotic ought to
be necessary. But this is usually not the case. Instead, the
probiotics work after the application, but are quickly killed and are
no longer effective, since they are no longer alive.

What is it that kills the beneficial flora?

For folks on the SAD diet, regular use of prescription/pharmaceutical
antibiotics is known to kill both the beneficial and harmful bacteria
in the digestive system. But most raw/live foodists don't consume
pharmaceutical antibiotics.

Instead, raw-foodists kill their beneficial flora with herbal
antibiotics and natural spices that in historical times were uses for
their food preservative qualities. Certainly herbs such as echinacea
and goldenseal are well know antibiotics, which are often used to
fight the symptoms of colds and flus. These antibiotic kill bacteria,
and are unable to distinguish between beneficial and harmful
bacterias. Garlic and onions are another antibiotic that will kill
bacteria in your digestive system, especially when consumed in their
raw state. In addition to garlic and onion, the following herbs and
spices are known for their antibacterial properties: allspice,
oregano, thyme, cinnamon, tarragon, cumin, capsicum, white and black
pepper, ginger, anise seed and celery seeds.

Salt throughout history has been known as a food preservative. It
preserves food by creating a saline environment that is hostile to
bacteria. Again, beneficial bacteria can no more survive a saline
environment than a harmful bacteria can. Salt can come into the diet
from using refined salt, celtic sea salt, Bragg's liquid aminos, nama
shoyu, tamari, and regular soy sauce. It can also be introduced with
unwashed sea vegetables like dulse and nori.

Another matter of importance is improper food combining. Not only
does improper food combining use more energy and time to digest food,
but if fermentation of sugar occurs, toxins such as alcohol are
created that will also kill your beneficial flora.

Rather than having a lifetime dependence on store-bought probiotics
and supplements, it is much healthier and cheaper to remove the
causes of the death of the flora.

Bryan Yamamoto
San Francisco, California