What Are Probiotics?

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that play a very important role in your health. They can be found everywhere inside and outside your body doing good deeds but, most reside in your gut. These desirable microorganisms include names like:

• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Lactic acid bacteria
• Bifidobacteria
• Bifidobacterium longum
• Escherichia coli
• Lactic acid bacteria

And many more.

Why Do I Need Them?

Believe it or not there is a war going on inside of your body every day. Probiotics form a lining along the walls of your intestines creating a physical barrier to hinder invasion of bad bacteria. Probiotics comprise 60% of your immune function by secreting chemicals that battle pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold and yeasts thereby keeping you healthier. Besides boosting your immune system probiotics perform many other important functions such as:

• Lowering cholesterol
• Lowering blood pressure
• Aiding in digestion
• Improving iron absorption and other minerals
• Helping you synthesize nutrients from your food
• Reducing inflammation
• Cleaning and scrubbing the lining of your intestines
• Helping with allergies
• Helping manage urogenital health
• Managing irritable bowel syndrome and colitis
• Support the development and functioning of the gut
• Giving you energy

A lack of sufficient amounts of beneficial bacteria weakens your immune system and leaves you open and exposed to germs, bad bacteria, and virus that can make you sick. When the digestive tract is healthy, these beneficial bacteria filter out and eliminate things that can damage it, such as harmful toxins, chemicals, and other waste products. On the flip side, it takes in the things that our body needs (nutrients from food and water) and absorbs and helps deliver them to the cells where they are needed.

The majority of probiotics colonize in the large intestine. These living organisms form a neural network that is sometimes called your “second brain.” This neural network in your gut takes in information from your external environment and remains in constant communication with your first brain through your central nervous system helping you to make intuitive decisions. Hence the term, “gut feeling.”

How does this work? How does anything work – through energy. Probiotics in a healthy person number up to 100 trillion. In a healthy person these beneficial bacteria will outnumber your own cells by a factor of ten to one. Up to seven pounds of you is actually probiotics. These microscopic organisms are constantly moving and all this movement creates a tiny amount friction which creates an energy field. This energy field interacts with other subtle energy fields around you warning you of danger and helping you to make better choices. Probiotics want you to live. It is in their best interest for you to live and to be healthy because they depend upon their host (you) for their own survival.

Where Do I Get Them?

1. You Were Born With Them – During a delivery through the birth canal, a newborn baby picks up bacteria from his/her mother. These good bacteria are not transmitted when a Cesarean section is performed and have been shown to be the reason why some infants born by Cesarean section have allergies, less than optimal immune systems, and lower levels of gut microflora. Drinking chlorinated water and the use of antibiotics destroys all living organisms in your gut including the beneficial bacteria. Stress can also contribute to an overgrowth of harmful bacterial by changing your body chemistry making it more acidic which is what bad bacteria loves.

2. Fermented Foods – Raw fermented sauerkraut and kim chee made from cabbage is an excellent sources of probiotics. What makes our sauerkraut and kim chee unique is the fact that the cabbage, onions and garlic have a high sulfur content which inhibits the growth of the bad bacteria while allowing the growth of beneficial bacteria. However, probiotics are heat sensitive and are destroyed by the cooking process. Therefore, you must make sure your fermented foods are not pasteurized, irradiated, or heat processed in any way. I would also suggest that you choose only organic fermented foods in order to minimize your exposure to toxic pesticides used in conventional farming.

3. Supplements – LiveGive “Instinct”, “Ocean Energy” and Living Streams liquid probiotics available in the Hippocrates store are powerful ways to restore the balance of your intestinal microflora.