Hello there friends. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back here for a week that will change as school starts again. Well my little puppy has been very sick for the past 6 days and 2 visits to the vet later she is finally coming around. She seemed to have picked up a virus probably on one of our walks to the park seeing it has been so warm and no rain, that it is a perfect breeding ground for viruses to grow. Funny thing is that her medicine she is taking was given to her with probiotics so that we can replace the bad bacteria that is growing with good bacteria once the medicine does its job. Now just saying, the veterinary world knows this and probiotics are being given as a rememdy for animals, why have our human counter parts not jumped on this train??????
It was quite coincidental that I have put off my probiotic blog to take care of my puppy and here I am coming home with probiotics for her to take after her antibiotics…funny world.
As a general practice, most doctors do not prescribe probiotics after a regiment of antibiotics… and this none practice alludes me. Antibiotics have a habit of wiping out the major-to all the population of good and bad bacteria that can grow in our digestive tracks and therefore we should be getting probiotics to help our body replace the good bacteria army, but that does not seem to happen, causing regrowth of yeast again and most often more stubborn yeasts. So without the live, good bacteria/yeasts being replaced, it takes our body quite a long time to replace them through fermented foods and yogurts, which are usually so full of sugars that it is counterintuitive. Which in turn keeps us from getting better and actually usually causes more illness due to not having enough good bacteria to get our bodies back on track again. We end up craving sweets feeding the bad bacteria and suffer with more stomach and colon problems snowballing out of control…when what we need is to replenish the good bacteria.
Most cases of acid reflux, leaky gut, over production of acid, indigestion, heartburn, bloating, constipation, anxiety, mood disorders and any colon issue you can think of, can be either extremely reduced in severity (depending on the severity of the illness) to completely taken care of the ailment all together, just by introducing enough probiotics to our every day routines. Probiotics allows our body to repair itself. It is healthy strains of bacteria that are naturally found in our bodies to keep us healthy and help our blood cells fight viruses and bad bacteria.
So over the years of indulging in fast foods, high end sugar ladened cold and hot drinks, eating junk foods from time to time, drinking pop and diet pops, having a few alcoholic drinks, taking prescriptions and antibiotics and even stress has deteriorated the amounts of good bacteria we have, and they are not so easy to replace. I spoke about this briefly in a previous blog “Super Hero Combo:Probiotics/Gluten Free” and in “Kefir My Newest Superfood” in the June & July Archives. Also as we age our bodies get a little tired and our organs are not as clean and efficient as they used to be and therefore are crying out for those little soldiers to be recruited to help clean everything out and re-man all posts.
The good bacteria eat up the bad bacteria (most popular known as candida) and helps to move undigested food that is causing the bloating, cramps, pain, IBS and restore and repair linings reducing the pains from acid reflux, ulcerated tissues throughout the digestive track and help to clean up the colon. Once all of this is done you will surprised at how fast your body is able to repair itself and you will no longer feel so sluggish and bloated all the time or suffer from skin ailments because your digestive track will be able to do its job again clearing out the sludge that can build up and cause us problems. Once the digestive track is in order every thing else falls into line. Your organs are better able to do their jobs making chemicals our body needs to function including helping the gall bladder and liver produce the bile and hormones we need throughout the rest of bodies and to digest and get the nutrients to where they should be going. Think of the probiotics as your own little military getting the job done so we can go on with our daily civilian, good flora productions, without being bothered by “the bad guys” attacking our delicate cells.
However in saying all the good stuff I do have to put up on red flag for anyone who is suffering from acute pancreatitis. There was a study carried out that concluded those with pancreatic ailments should not take probiotics with antibiotics it could be quite harmful. There is no reason stated to why this is so, just that the finding had a higher mortality rate. Whether this was due to the ailment/antibiotic/probiotic relationship, was not stated. Yet using probiotics to repair any digestive illness has been the go to medicine for helping the body replenish its good bacteria and restore healthy tissue and cells.
Most probiotics that are available to the general public are found on the shelves of your drug store and may not be the best choice. If they are not freeze dried good bacteria, then the majority have probability died or are not potent enough for you to feel any benefit from. Most probiotics should be purchased through a reputable health store that receives them cold and refrigerates them immediately, and having more then 7 strains of good bacteria, if possible. You will need to keep them in your refrigerator at home as well, unless they are freeze dried as I said. But in my neck of the woods I have to purchase mine cold.
The next issue if whether you will find any benefit will be if you are taking the right amounts. Now most guru’s will say that there is no amount too high because your body has trillions, over 20-25 trillion bacteria live cells, present or should have that amount. So by replacing 20 to 30 to 40 billion is not a problem, because throughout your daily regime bacteria will live and some will die, being gotten rid of as waste, which is why we need to replenish. You can replenish with fermented foods as well but as I stated above, you must be very careful because some foods are high in sugar, no mater the name or if it is natural or man made, sugar kills the good bacteria and feeds the bad bacteria which is where we get a lot of our sugar cravings.
Bad bacteria like Candida, thrive on sugar and dairy, causing you strong cravings all day and more then likely weight gain. You can try to starve out the bad yeast but it will likely win and your cravings will return, sometimes even stronger with more bloating due to the sugar and dairy that is present in your blood stream. With the digestive tract growing more bad bacteria for you to feed you will have more and more weight gain. You must kill it with good bacteria. The good bacteria eats up thr bad, like what your blood cells do to a virus, and to do that you must increase the probiotics. You will find that after weeks of doing this, your cravings will decrease your waist line will decrease and your energy will sky rocket and so will the health of your body. Your bathroom visits will be more regular and consistent, your moods will even out and become happier, overall allowing you to deal better with stress as well.
These bad bacteria’s affect your whole body and mood. When you finally tame them so that you can enjoy one scoop of ice cream and not the container, will you find exactly the damage it did to your whole body, which was no fault of yours. Unfortunately we are innocent bystanders at times eating what companies deem as being healthy, and they are not usually healthy. They are usually full of sugar so you will crave that product and return as a customer, but unfortunately our stomachs and digestive tracks are held hostage until we learn about probiotics.
When your body can return to making more of the necessary chemicals it needs like serotonin to help migraines you will realize the correlation between sugars, bad bacteria and the need for probiotics. Once you restore the balance of 80% good bacteria to 20% bad bacteria, your whole body will smile. I have said before I call my probiotic my happy pill because my belly just beams when I take it. I know and feel the difference it has made in my migraines. My body is healthier allowing my organs to do their job more efficiently, reducing my migraine pain. Give it a chance, and talk to your health care provider about the benefits of probiotics.
I have only just realized myself that I probably have been taking to low of a dosage and have increased mine to 30 billion live cells which now seems to be the norm. I take mine at night, but I have only recently found out that we are suppose to take them with our meals, so I guess that one will be an individual preference. There is no way around it we need to help our bodies help themselves and if my vet is sending antibiotics home with probiotics to replenish my puppies good bacteria, we must get with it. We love our animals and treat them like our children so extend the courtesy to your self, and do the same. Take care and give yourself a chance to have a happier you so you can shake your tail too.
HAPPY HEALING!!