How Probiotics Can Boost Your Overall Health Regime

by Michael Shahani

Probiotics, sometimes called “friendly bacteria,” are beneficial microorganisms that naturally inhabit the human digestive system. You already have billions of bacteria living in your gut. Some are harmful (pathogenic), but many are beneficial. Keeping a balance between the good and the bad bacterial is critical to maintaining good health. The right probiotic will go to work directly in your intestines to help digest your food and purge wastes from the body. Probiotics help keep bad bacteria and yeast from growing in your intestinal tract, and confer many other proven benefits to you, including vitamin production and keeping your immune system healthy.

Without realizing it, every day you eat processed, over-refined, or sterilized foods that destroy the natural balance of healthy flora in your intestines. Even when eating a so-called healthy diet, your body’s flora is bombarded with chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics that further endanger this delicate balance of friendly bacteria. In addition, most of us do not eat enough, if any, of the traditional, naturally fermented foods that contain these bacteria. Probiotics are a great way to help improve your overall health and are becoming one of today’s hottest health trends.

Daily Dose

Every human can benefit from a daily regime of probiotics. Taking a daily supplement* (be sure to consult an expert and/or your doctor) can have positive lifelong effects. Most of our daily lifestyle contains stress, alcohol, caffeine, and medications, which kill your body’s supply of friendly bacteria. As our bodies get older they become less efficient at digesting food and maintaining high levels of probiotics in the intestines. Taking a probiotic supplement can provide your intestines with the vital bacteria it is missing as well as help your body produce its own brand of B vitamins to combat stress and disease.
Probiotics play a vital role in the healthy operation of many of our body’s daily functions. Here are some of the most common and well-researched problems that can be improved with probiotic supplementation (without side effects):

• Control Digestive Problems - helps to build up a healthy supply of good bacteria in the intestine and can be an alternative to over-the-counter remedies.
• Enhances Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Programs - maintaining ideal body weight to make sure that your digestive system is functioning properly. A healthy digestive system increases energy and improves your metabolism.
• Inhibit Tumors and Carcinogenesis - in clinical studies, Dr. Khem Shahani’s discovery of L. Acidophilus DDS-1 and L. bulgaricus has been shown to inhibit tumor growth and block the formation of carcinogenic compounds in the colon.
• Fight Yeast and Fungal Infections - probiotics stimulate the production of white blood cells in the body that combat candida yeast and fungal infections.
• Enhance Calcium Metabolism - increase the body’s ability to absorb and metabolize calcium.
• Improve Immune Function - maintain intestinal health and enhance natural immune system response by stimulating the body’s production of NK- and T-cells.
• Reduce Cholesterol in the Blood - in the digesting of fats that contribute to the levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol in the blood.
• Produce B Vitamins Naturally - increase the rate of metabolism, help maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, and enhance nervous system function.
• Reduces Skin Problems - help alleviate skin problems such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema.
• Help With Liver Function - detoxify the blood to help the liver to perform more efficiently and with less strain.

*NOTE: Information in this article, including comments on medical treatments, is not intended as medical advice. It should be evaluated critically and should not take the place of medical advice from a licensed healthcare professional.