Excerpt from the August 22, 2008 Newsletter

Have you had your bacteria today?

You may have noticed a number of advertisements lately for various new yogurt products like Dannon Activia and Yoplait Yo-Plus purporting to aide in digestive health. These products all contain a high level of added "active probiotics cultures", which is another way of saying they contain billions of bacterial microorganisms. Yum!

Actually our bodies (in particular our digestive tract) always contain a certain level of bacteria or "gut flora", which is highly beneficial in regulating digestive functions and maintaining our immune systems. Adding supplemental probiotics to your daily routine, either through ingesting products like those mentioned above, or taking simple vitamin-like tablets or capsules readily available where vitamins are sold, helps your natural gut flora to flourish and keep you healthy. It's relatively inexpensive and noticeable benefits can be realized in as little as 10 days.

The list of potential benefits conferred by probiotics supplementation continues to grow as more research is completed. In addition to promoting digestive regularity, according to Wikipedia and Dannon's Probiotic Center
it is also said to aide in the following:

• Lowering Cholesterol
• Lowering Blood Pressure
• Preventing Colon Cancer
• Reducing symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Colitis
• Improving mineral absorption
• Reducing effects of Lactose Intolerance
• Improving immune system functioning
• Reducing symptoms of allergies

The history of using fermented milk products for promoting health goes back through the ages; it has even been said that Abraham of the Old Testament credited his long life (in part) to ingesting fermented milk and King Francis I of France was said to have been cured of an illness in the 1500s by eating yogurt!

In our modern world it is more important than ever to supplement with probiotics. A main reason for this is the widespread use of antibiotics which are intended to kill microorganisms causing unwanted infections in our bodies. The problem is that they also kill the good microorganisms that make up our gut flora. You're not only affected by taking antibiotics when they are prescribed to you by a physician to cure or prevent an infection, but we are also exposed to antibiotics through their widespread use in raising livestock which causes them to end up in our food supply, and eventually in our bodies. (Read more about this in my previous article on naturally raised food choices).

So whether you are a fan of yogurt and these new products suit your taste, or you're like me and a simple tablet added to your daily supplement routine does the trick - consider adding probiotics to your routine and you may reap great benefits in doing so!

If you found this article interesting you may also like to read previous articles on Fish Oil supplementation and how massage therapy helps your immune system.