March 27, 2019
When you think of bacteria - you often think of infection and green boogers...am I right??
While this is true, that's one ugly side of bacteria. But there is a good side too. Bacteria is everywhere in our body, it lines our digestive tract, and is all over our skin! There are TRILLIONS of them in our body that they actually make up between 1 to 3% of our body weight!
They even outnumber the cells in our body by 10 to 1.
So it's hard to ignore these good guys and pretend they don't exist or play a significant role in our health!
It's important to know why we have to protect these good guys, and this next list outlines just some of the roles bacteria play in our bodies:
Based on this list, the microbiome affects our:
Basically it has everything to do with how we feel physically & emotionally. That means it can even determine whether we’re fat, thin, lethargic or energetic.
So what can kill that beautiful built-in army?
Some of these are possible to avoid, and some are not.
For that reason, it's always important to take probiotics to ensure that the colony is strong in numbers. This can be done with supplements and food.
Probiotics have been defined by an international group of scientific experts as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”[1] Essentially, these are a special class of bacteria that scientists have linked to better health by influencing the composition of the gut microbiome. They mostly come in the form of pills and powders, while also found in foods and drinks like sauerkraut and yogurt.
Probiotics are one possible way to change the composition of your gut, and they are certainly important when recovering from a course of antibiotics, or fighting a cold or stomach bug. They outnumber the pathogens (the bad bugs) that are causing the cold, the stomach bug, etc.
It's easy to get your dose of probiotics from foods. Probiotics are measured in Colony Forming Units (CFU's) and usually range from 1 million to trillions of CFU's.
Prebiotics are an important mention because they don't actually contain probiotics or bacteria, they're actually food for the bacteria. They're gut-loving foods that fuel their grow and activity. They're non-digestible (like fibre, they pass through the stomach without breaking down by stomach acid/enzymes) and they can be fermented or metabolized by intestinal bacteria.
Sources of prebiotics:
You can also find prebiotic powders sold in health food stores, such as my favorite Genuine Health's "Gut Superfoods". It's easy to incorporate those into smoothies, baking and homemade popsicles for kids, which is why I like the powder form.
When recovering from a course of antibiotics, or going through a cold or flu, or recolonizing the gut (when you haven't had probiotic-rich foods, or foods that kill the microbiome bugs), it's important to take higher doses in supplement form. The following strains are what I would look for in a good probiotic supplement. It's better to take them in a multiple strain formula as they work better synergistically than when taking single strains.
Lactobacillus plantarumLactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus rhamnosus
When purchasing a probiotic supplement, ensure that you buy one that says it’s hypoallergenic (free from gluten, dairy, soy, corn), to prevent any side effects or reactions, should you have any hidden allergies.
This is one of my favorite brands, which contains all of the above listed strains.
I'm a strong advocate for stool testing and learning about what your microbiome profile is like. It helps you learn why you feel the way you do and what you can do about it. I'm a Viome ambassador and a proponent for their method. Have a look at their website and contact me directly if you have any more questions about Viome or this topic!
Have any more questions on this topic? Send me an email! hello@healthrefined.com
Sources:
[1] Hill, Colin, Guarner, Francisco, et al, "The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic", Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume11, pp 506–514 (2014).
[2] Perlmutter, David, and Fristin Loberg. Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain. Little, Brown & Company, 2015.
September 09, 2020
Have you ever read the package insert that comes with any pharmaceutical drug?
You know, the one that’s folded 10x and has the smallest print and looks like a waste of time and paper?
That’s the one I’m talking about.
June 09, 2020
There’s a lot of controversial info out there on dairy. Some sources say to absolutely avoid it like the devil.
Other sources (like the US and Canadian food guide) say it’s a must with every meal.
Here’s my take on dairy.
March 17, 2020
Many of us live in parts of the country/world where, during the winter season, it’s rainy, gloomy, snowy and/or too cold to spend too much time outdoors.
And spending too much time indoors can of course have its drawbacks, here’s why.