Probiotics: What are They and Are You Getting Enough?
by www.SixWise.com
http://www.sixwise.com/Newsletters/2009/May/13/Probiotics-Are-You-Getting-Enough.htm?source=nl
Probiotics, which means “for life,’ are beneficial bacteria that can assist your body with digestion and help protect you from harmful bacteria.
There are, in fact, trillions of bacteria in your digestive tract, but not all of them are good for you. One reason why probiotics are so important is because they help keep the balance of good vs. bad bacteria in check. Without them, bad bacteria would overwhelm your system, causing your cells to miss out on important nutrients and function poorly.
As written in the book Digestive Wellness, probiotics lower the pH of your colon and kill disease-causing microbes. They also produce vitamins A, B and K, protect you from illness, enhance peristalsis, and make lactase for milk digestion. Probiotics also ferment dietary fiber, producing short-chained fatty acids, one of which, called butyric acid, having low levels has been associated with ulcerative colitis, colon cancer, active colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Because of their promising benefits, probiotics have been the topic of much recent research (and have spurred a host of new food products like Dannon's Activia). Already, its been found that probiotics may:
* Enhance your immune system (70 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system, which means that if your gut is overrun with bad bacteria, there’s a good chance your immune system will not be functioning at its best)
* Prevent infections after surgery
* Treat acute and chronic diarrhea
* Relieve inflammatory bowel disease
* Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
* Protect against cancer development and progression
* Prevent eczema in children
* Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections
* Help reduce weight gain and maintain ideal body weight
* Help reduce systemic allergic responses
To read the full article: http://www.sixwise.com/Newsletters/2009/May/13/Probiotics-Are-You-Getting-Enough.htm?source=nl
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