Probiotics For Dummies
Shekhar Challa
Language: English
Pages: 216
ISBN: 1118169735
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Discover the pros of probiotics
Probiotics are beneficial, live microorganisms (in most cases, bacteria) that are similar to those found naturally in the human intestine. Also known as "friendly" or "good" bacteria, probiotics are the cornerstone of any successful health program because they restore a healthy balance between friendly and bad bacteria in the intestinal tract, a balance that is critical for the health of the entire body. Probiotics are associated with treating everything from IBS to certain forms of cancer, allergies, eczema, and even the effects of aging.
Probiotics For Dummies reveals how taking the right probiotics—in the form of food and supplements— as part of a total health program benefits one's overall health, as well as improving specific conditions. This hands-on, essential guide features 20 probiotic recipes and gives you a step-by-step plan for infusing probiotics into your diet to improve the health of the GI tract, alleviate allergies and asthma, restore reproductive and urinary tracts, bolster the immune system against disease, enhance weight loss, and more.
- Advice on how to ingest the right probiotics
- 20 probiotic recipes from breakfast to dessert
- Information on naturally occurring probiotic compounds as well as the effectiveness of supplements
Probiotics For Dummies gives you everything you need to make informed decisions about adding probiotics to your daily diet.
system live in the colon and, to a lesser extent, the small intestine because many can’t survive in the stomach. The small intestine is a tough environment for bacteria because the stomach acid and continuous contractions of the small intestine tend to keep out most gut flora. Nevertheless, some bacteria are present in the small intestine. Lactobacilli reside mainly in the small intestine, whereas Bifidobacteria inhabit the colon. Beating back bad bacteria You have some bad bacteria in your body
your body, in both positive and negative ways. Diet, climate changes, stress, illness, and certain medications can affect the microbiota in your body. Medications such as antibiotics may alter your digestive system’s environment, decreasing the number of good 28 Part I: Living in the Microbial World bacteria and helping the bad bacteria and fungi (yeast) proliferate. Clostridum difficile colitis, an infection that causes diarrhea, and yeast infections are good examples. (See Chapter 4 for more
altered, there was a difference in brain development and anxious behaviors. Another study found that supplements of L. casei Shiroto may ease anxiety symptoms in people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Recent evidence suggests that probiotics can exert beneficial effects on your psychological wellbeing as well as on your physical health. Mark Lyte, professor at Texas Tech University’s School of Pharmacy, has proposed that probiotics produce neurochemicals that improve psychological health.
lifethreatening inflammation in the colon. C. diff seems to cause the most problems in hospitals and nursing homes, and it’s a quite common side effect of taking antibiotics (see Chapter 4). The elderly and those with suppressed immune systems are most susceptible to C. diff infections. However, even otherwise healthy people can succumb. Since 2000, a new strain of C. diff has arisen that is more resistant to certain drugs and produces more toxins than other strains. This stronger strain has
microbiome (the collection of bugs in our gut) as the “hidden” or “ignored” organ. As medical science, aided by rapid advances in technology, comes to recognize the true size and diversity of this microbiome and appreciate how it participates actively in such essential bodily functions as immunity and metabolism, the possibility that approaches that change the microbiota may be useful in treating disease has emerged. Indeed, the concept of giving “good” bacteria to alleviate common complaints as