OCTOBER 23, 2012 PROBIOTICS

" The groundwork of all happiness is health"  - James Leigh Hunt


What is happiness without health ! I often see sadness, misery and  unhappiness without health. This is why some individuals come to the doctors.--to get healthy. No matter what is happening I have some very upbeat, happy and cheerful patients. These same individuals are facing chemotherapy, radiation and even operations.  For these individulas I see gratitude not attitude written on their faces despite what life has dealt to them. I find this encouraging. We are all facing uncertain times- whether financial, emotional, psychological and even medical. I am just grateful that I can experience my own feelkings these days.


Most of the patients I see are already taking a probiotics. I believe we all should take some probiotics. It is the name for the friendly bacteria associated with beneficial benefits for humans for a number of disorders.
Most of us are familiar with lactobacillus that is present in yogurt.  There are many more good bacteria species that should be used other than the usual lactobacillus and bifidobacteria  genus. Most if not all of the companies I use within the practice offer multiple strains versus one or two strains.

Some individuals prefer to get the friendly bacteria from foods as yogurt, sour cream, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and fermented soy as ( miso, tempeh)  There is nothing wrong with getting strains of friendly bacteria form these foods. However you must remember that these foods have one or two strains. If you multiple strains of friendly bacteria you will not get them from the above foods.  Also you must remember that the amount of strains might not have a relevant dose needed for certain disease prevention or treatment . Also most patients are allergic or sensitive to dairy and cannot consume yogurt.

I use companies that have products with multiple species and strains and in relevant amounts.
There are different forms of probiotics that all should be familiar with- liquid, freeze dried powder, capsule and even beads. The liquid usually contain live bacteria. This results in storage and shelf life. I like the probiotics in powdered forms from companies as Metagenics, Orthomoelcular, Longevity Nutritionals and Biotics.  There are the pearl probiotic in gelatin beads. this is supposed to protect the probiotic bacteria from the stomach acids. the most common one used is Dr Ohira's  Essential Formulas.

Due the consumption and use/over use of many antibiotics, a poor American diet, processed foods, and the environment there is a probiotic deficiency in most of us. It must be resolved by either taking a pro biotic supplement or consuming foods like yogurt ( if there is no contraindication)

Until tomorrow...