Do you know that you have more than 400 species of good and bad bacteria in your gut? A good balance of the good and bad bacteria contributes to the health of the digestive system as well as our overall health.
Most of these bacteria reside in the intestine. A healthy balance of intestine flora helps to filter and eliminate harmful bacteria, toxins and waste products. It also aids in the digestion of food. They help in the synthesis of vitamin and nutrients, metabolism of certain medicine, support the development and function of healthy gut and enhance the immune system.
What cause the imbalance of good and bad bacteria?
There is a delicate balance of the good and bad bacteria. This balance is easily disturbed by:
- Poor diet and food choices such as sugary food and processed food.
- Over use of antibiotics
- Lack of sleep
- Emotional stress
What happen when there is an imbalance of good and bad bacteria?
When bad bacteria population exceeds the good bacteria in the gut, the barrier is lowered allowing the influx of bad bacteria, toxins and large protein molecules into the body. You experience leaky gut problems:
- The bad bacteria spread to the urinary system to cause urinary tract infection.
- Fatigue due to toxin overload.
- Reduction in immune system leading to allergies and autoimmune reactions such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, skin infection and vaginal tract infection.
- Diarrhea due to intestinal reaction to the bad bacteria.
Probiotics is the answer to maintaining healthy balance of bacteria in the gut
Probiotics is live microorganism taken in the right dose to confer good health. In the normal healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, protein and carbohydrates, you cannot obtain probiotics from these food.
You get natural probiotics from yogurt, cheese, miso, tempeh and kimchi. You can also take probiotics supplements in the right level to give you optimum gut health.
The main micro-organism found in probiotics are:
They are found in the digestive, urinary and genital system. They are also found in fermented food such as yogurt.
Lactobacillus prevent urinary tract infection, irritable bowel syndrome, skin disorder and respiratory infection.
They are found in healthy colon and appear in the intestinal tract of babies within days of birth. They can improve irritable bowel syndrome, dental cavities and lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL).
Research done by MM Tabbers from Department of Paediatrics Gastroenterioloy & Nutrition, Emma Children Hospital in Amsterdam, Holland, was published in the Nutrition Journal, February 2011. It showed that Bifidobacterium breve helps with the treatment of constipation in children. As most children reject fruits and vegetables and do not eat enough fiber in the diet suffer from constipation. Giving them probiotics containing Bifidobacteria breve will help alleviate the situation.
This is a type of yeast that can help to treat diarrhea and skin acne problems. It also reduce the side effect of treatment for gastric ulcer.
This produces the enzyme lactose that helps to prevent lactose intolerance and bowel inflammation.
You can find many types of probiotics out there. They come in the form of capsule, tables and free-flowing powder. Unicity Probionics is special, because the probiotics are encapsulated to allows the micro-organisms to pass through the stomach intact to reach the intestine, where it works.
Have you tried probiotics? Share with me your experience in the comment box below.
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