Do you know the word probiotics? Maybe you’ve heard the terms healthy bacteria or friendly bacteria. You probably never gave a great deal of thought to your gastrointestinal tract or gut until the commercials for yogurt and yogurt drinks that promise to strengthen your immune system, help with regularity or replace healthy bacteria that were destroyed by antibiotics.
Your gut is the site of digestion, absorption, some immune function and elimination.
Healthy or friendly bacteria have various roles in the body. The friendly flora compete with unhealthy bacteria to help keep the body working as it should including regularity and a healthy immune system as well as take part in the production of folic acid and some B vitamins.
If you’ve decided to try a probiotics product, how do you know which one is the best choice? There are so many products on the market.
Here are three smart tips to help you make the right choice.
1. Probiotics are not all the same orequal. The health effect depends on the species and strain. Think of it like this. When you are sick with an infection that requires antibiotics, your doctor prescribes a particular antibiotic proven to destroy the bacteria causing the illness.
In other words, antibiotics are specific to certain bacteria. If you are prescribed the wrong antibiotic, the infection will not clear up until the correct antibiotic is give. It’s the same with probiotics.
*** Probiotics is a term we use very loosely in the media and marketplace….a catch-all phrase for all so-called healthy bacteria. ***
2. Probiotics are categorized by group, species and strain. Probably more than you want to know but it’s important to at least grasp the idea. Consider Lactobacillus acidophilus GG. Lactobacillus is the group, acidophilus is the species and GG is the strain. GG is the strain with research behind it.
Whether probiotics are taken in food or supplement form doesn’t matter. But take a supplement with food as food helps buffer the probiotics against stomach acid so the healthy bacteria are not destroyed and make it to the intestines.
A good company will tell you the full name of the probiotic bacteria on the label or provide a website to check out or number to call for more information. Their research should also be available on the website to show that the probiotics actually work. Less reliable companies will not have this information available.
3. Probiotics or healthy bacteria can be destroyed by direct light and high temperatures, even during manufacturing so the actual probiotic count may be lower than what’s on the bottle or package.
Probiotics should be ‘live’ which means they still work so look for the words “live and active cultures” on the label. Be sure and check for a shelf life and how the product should be stored.
By the way, natural food sources of probiotics include yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut and kefir. A few of the probiotics-enhanced products with research behind them to check out for specific health benefits include the supplements Culturelle and Florastor and the food products Activia, DanActive, Danimals, Yakult, Stoneyfield Farms yogurt and Attune cereal bars.
Remember, discuss with your doctor or health care providor which probiotic strain is right for you if you are using it to help treat a specific health concern. Check out the company’s website for specific information on the species and strain of the probiotics. Want more overall knowledge… take a look at usprobiotics.org
Have you heard the terms friendly bacteria or healthy bacteria or the word probiotics? You’ve probably never thought a lot about your gastrointestinal tract until you started seeing commercials for various yogurts, yogurt drinks and cereals that promise to strengthen your immune system, help with regularity or replace healthy bacteria destroyed by antibiotics.
What are probiotics? Live microorganisms when given in adequate amounts can have a beneficial health effect on the body.
If you decide to try a probiotics product, how do you know which one is the best choice?
Whether it’s a food or supplement form of probiotics doesn’t matter but take a supplement with food as food helps buffer the probiotics against stomach acid so the healthy bacteria are not destroyed and make it to the intestines.
Probiotics are not the same nor equal. The health effect depends on the species and strain. OK, think of it like this. When you are sick with an infection that requires antibiotics, your doctor prescribes one based on the illness you have. The particular antibiotic prescribed has been proven to destroy the bacteria causing the illness. In other words, antibiotics are specific to certain bacteria. Same with probiotics. They are species and strain specific.For example, Lactobacillus acidophilus GG is often recommended for antibiotic use and the resulting diarrhea that often occurs while B lactis is used for IBS or L caseii for the immune system. Bottom line, the strain of probiotics must be specific to the health concern you want to address. That’s why probiotics may or may not help.
Probiotics are categorized by group, species and strain. So take the Lactobacillus acidophilus GG mentioned above. Lactobacillus is the group, acidophilus is the species and GG is the strain. GG is the strain with research behind it.Be sure and discuss with your doctor or health care provider which probiotics strain is right for you if you are using it to help treat a specific health concern. Check out the company’s website for specific information on the species and strain of the probiotics. Want more overall knowledge… take a look at usprobiotics.org
Probiotics or healthy bacteria can be destroyed by direct light and high temperatures over time. Be sure and check for a shelf life and how the product should be stored.
By the way, natural food sources of probiotics include yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut and kefir.
My girlfriend called last night and she has the swine flu. She thinks she picked it up on a flight home last week. Do you have a cold? Even worse, the flu? Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) up to 20% of Americans will likely get a rotten case of the flu this year? Along with the H1N1 flu, that percentage will likely be much greater. When you are feeling absolutely rotten, what you eat can help fortify your immune system and even help ease your cold and flu symptoms.
Tea: all types of tea including green, black, white and red offer health benefits in the form of antioxidants. Besides feeling good to your throat and warming your body when you have the chills, hot liquids temporarily thin out the mucus in the nose and throat. Here’s a little unexpected tip. Regular tea (not decaf) contains enough caffeine to give you a slight energy boost when you feel so bad you don’t want to lift your head off the pillow. Remember, in addition to tea, continue to drink a lot of water to keep your body well hydrated and to help thin out mucus buildup.
Potatoes and other vitamin C-rich foods: Surprise, most people don’t think about potatoes but they are a very nice source of vitamin C and potassium. Add them to your chicken soup or baked one quickly in the microwave when you don’t have much of an appetite. Other vitamin C-rich foods include kiwi, blueberries and blackberries, cherries, tomatoes, and the traditional tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple and strawberries. Choose the whole food over a vitamin C supplement since you get the benefit of the water content as well as other vitamins and minerals in the fruit. Research has not proven that vitamin C prevents colds but it does aid your immune system which in turn helps you fight off the cold and flu. By the way, 100% fruit juices provide hydration plus the benefits of vitamin C and antioxidants, particularly the deeply colored juices such as pomegranate, cherry, blueberry and blackberry.
Chicken Soup: The zinc found in chicken is good for your immunity. Enhance your soup with garlic, onions, potatoes and lots of broth. The garlic and onion loaded broth nourishes you and helps ease congestion and thin out mucous. If Mom isn’t around to make that chicken soup for you, there are some good canned versions on the market. Be sure and check the Nutrition Facts label for the sodium content as canned soups can be over the top when it comes to added salt and sodium.
Yogurt. This is probably a food you never would have thought about to fight flu and colds but here’s the deal. You want yogurt that contains active cultures so check the label. Yogurt with active cultures such as acidophilus (also called probiotics) replenishes healthy bacteria in the body, especially your gastrointestinal tract where a lot of your immune function happens. Active cultures are particularly important if you are taking antibiotics which tend to strip out the bad bacteria and take the good along with it. The active cultures help replenish those healthy bacteria. Probiotics are strain specific meaning that you need a certain strain of probiotic bacteria if you are taking antibiotics so be sure to discuss this with your doctor, dietitian or pharmacist. You can also find these active cultures added to other products such as cereal bars, cereal, yogurt smoothies or kefir.
Spicy foods such as hot sauce, wasabi, chili or spicy sauces help to temporarily open sinuses and help with congestion. A bowl of chili or spicy tortilla soup with a dash of hot sauce may cause your nose to run and eyes to tear but right now, that could be a good thing. This relief helps you to breathe easier for a little while so if you’re up for it, try a little spicy food.
Now that you’ve given your body food to fight that flu or cold, it’s time for some much needed sleep. Rest and feel better.
How’s your stress level this week? We’re into the first week of December. Is your to-do list growing and is your calendar jam-packed? Do the holiday foods and festivities have you feeling a little bloated? Whether that bloated feeling comes from swallowing too much air as you stand, talk and eat at your friend’s party, or from not getting enough fiber in your diet due to party food overload or from consuming too much salt and sodium at a food fest, there are foods to counteract the big bloat. In this month’s Family Circle magazine, check out The No-Bloat Diet including these no-bloat foods and more.
Dried plums and 100% plum juice (not to be confused with prune juice): provide the body with fiber, potassium, magnesium and sorbitol…all found naturally in the fresh plum and which also help keep the digestive track humming along. You might have seen PlumSmart juice in your grocery, which is new from SunSweet, and is plum juice enhanced with dextrin, a prebiotic fiber which works as a teammate along with probiotics such as found in yogurt to increase the beneficial cultures in the digestive tract.
Whole-wheat tortillas: contain insoluble fiber which acts like Roto-Rooter to keep everything running smoothly. This same insoluble fiber is found in whole grains including whole wheat pasta and bread, brown rice and fruits and vegetables.
Melon: a diuretic fruit due to its high water content.
Cucumbers and lettuces: also have a high water content and act as diuretics to release some of the retained fluids.
Avocado: when you consume too much sodium, fluid retention can be an issue. The mineral potassium has the opposite effect helping to shed the fluid. An added bonus is the positive effect of potassium-rich foods on helping to lower blood pressure.
Margit Ragland, Senior Editor from Family Circle magazine joins me on the podcast this week. In addition to no-bloat foods, we dish on how to make Fruit and Cheese Bites, sweet yet spicy tiny cheese balls that include a touch of hot sauce to give a slight kick to the cheese along with the sweetness of dried pineapple and apricots. These Fruit and Cheese Bites are speedy to make when friends are dropping by unexpectedly. You can find this recipe and many others at the Nutrition & Health Center on WDBO.com.
Have you heard the terms friendly bacteria or healthy bacteria or the word probiotics? You’ve probably never thought a lot about your gastrointestinal tract until you started seeing commercials for various yogurts, yogurt drinks and cereals that promise to strengthen your immune system, help with regularity or replace healthy bacteria destroyed by antibiotics.
Did you know that there are bugs in the human gastrointestinal tract or what’s referred to as normal gut flora? Healthy or friendly bacteria have a number of body functions such as competition with unhealthy bacteria to help prevent disease and production of folic acid and some B vitamins.
What are probiotics? Live microorganisms when given in adequate amounts can have a beneficial health effect on the body. Why is there so much interest in these probiotics? Consumer demand is pushing hard in the direction of more natural, close to nature products plus some research has shown health benefits with certain probiotics in treating irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea (especially after antibiotic use), and ulcerative colitis.
If you’ve decided to try a probiotics product, how do you know which one is the best choice? There are so many products on the market since this is one hot area.
Probiotics are not the same nor equal. This is really important. The health effect depends on the species and strain. OK, think of it like this. When you are sick with an infection that requires antibiotics, your doctor prescribes one based on the illness you have. The particular antibiotic prescribed has been proven to destroy the bacteria causing the illness. In other words, antibiotics are specific to certain bacteria. If you are prescribed the wrong one, the infection will typically not clear up until the correct antibiotic is given. Same with probiotics. They are species and strain specific.For example, Lactobacillus acidophilus GG is often recommended for antibiotic use and the resulting diarrhea that often occurs while B lactis is used for IBS or L caseii for the immune system. Bottom line, the strain of probiotics must be specific to the health concern you want to address. That’s why probiotics may or may not help. If the wrong strain is taken, the situation will likely not improve. Probiotics is a term used very loosely or generally in the media and marketplace….a catch-all phrase for all so-called healthy bacteria. What you now know is that to be called probiotics, a strain of healthy bacteria must be shown by research to have a beneficial health effect.
Probiotics are categorized by group, species and strain. So take the Lactobacillus acidophilus GG mentioned above. Lactobacillus is the group, acidophilus is the species and GG is the strain. GG is the strain with research behind it. With so many new products on the market, it can be hard to know what to buy. Remember that probiotics are specific to the health issue not a one size fits all. Whether it’s a food or supplement form of probiotics doesn’t matter but take a supplement with food as food helps buffer the probiotics against stomach acid so the healthy bacteria are not destroyed and make it to the intestines.Remember that there is no legal definition for probiotics or regulation of their use but a good company will tell you the full name of the probiotic organism on the label, provide a website to check out or a number to call for more information. Their research should also be available on the website to show that the probiotics actually work. Less reliable companies will not have this information available.
Probiotics or healthy bacteria can be destroyed by direct light and high temperatures over time. Be sure and check for a shelf life and how the product should be stored. By the way, natural food sources of probiotics include yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut and kefir. A few of the probiotics-enhanced products with research behind them to check out for specific health benefits include the supplements Culturelle and Florastor and the food products Activia, DanActive,Danimals, Yo-Plus yogurt, Stoneyfield Farms yogurt and Kashi Vive cereal.
Be sure and discuss with your doctor or health care provider which probiotics strain is right for you if you are using it to help treat a specific health concern. Check out the company’s website for specific information on the species and strain of the probiotics. Want more overall knowledge… take a look at usprobiotics.org
How’s your week going? Do you have a cold? Even worse, the flu? Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) up to 20% of Americans will likely get a rotten case of the flu this year? I’ve got some good news for you. What you eat can help bolster your immune system and help with your cold symptoms. Fruits, vegetables and even some spices offer up a medicine cabinet full of healthy benefits for your body.
You’ve probably heard the term ‘super fruit’ which means a fruit that offers health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Number one on your list of cold fighting foods are super fruits.
Tangerines, oranges, grapefruit along with cherries, pineapple and strawberries (to name a few). These fruits contain immune building vitamin C. I much prefer the whole food over a vitamin C supplement since you get the benefit of the water content as well as other vitamins and minerals in the fruit. Research has not proven that vitamin C prevents colds but it does play a role in a healthy immune system which in turn helps you fight off a cold.
Spicy foods such as hot sauce, wasabi, chili or spicy sauces help to temporarily open sinuses and help with congestion. A bowl of chili or spicy tortilla soup with a dash of hot sauce may cause your nose to run and eyes to tear but right now, that could be a good thing. This relief helps you to breathe easier for a little while. So if you’re up for it, try a little spicy food.
Yogurt. This is probably a food you never would have thought about to fight a cold but here’s the deal. Yogurt with active cultures such as acidophilus can enhance immune function by putting healthy bacteria in the body, especially your gastrointestinal tract where a lot of your immune function happens. Yogurt is especially important if you are taking antibiotics which strip out the bad bacteria and take the good along with it. Yogurt helps replenish those healthy bacteria.
Hot liquids, especially tea: Besides feeling really good on your throat and warming your body when you have the chills, hot liquids temporarily thin out the mucus in the nose and throat. Tea or coffee with a little caffeine gives you a slight energy boost when you feel exhausted. Drink a lot of water to keep your body well hydrated and to continue to thin out mucus buildup.
Chicken Soup. Load it up with garlic, onions and lots of broth. These are the items that benefit your cold so chicken is fine or not, depending on your preference. The garlic and onion-loaded broth will help ease congestion and thin out mucous. If Mom isn’t around to make that chicken soup for you, there are some really good canned versions on the market. Be sure and shop for a lower sodium version as canned soups can be over the top when it comes to added salt and sodium.
Now that you’ve given your body food to fight that cold, it’s time for some much needed sleep. Feel better!
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bacteria. You probably never gave a great deal of thought to your gastrointestinal tract or gut until the commercials for yogurt and yogurt drinks that promise to strengthen your immune system, help with regularity or replace healthy bacteria that were destroyed by antibiotics.
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