Probiotics

IMMUNITION™ Report©

Volume V, No. 1 by Frank Jordan

Probiotics

Read an important Health Treatment Notice about personal health issues.

What are Probiotics?

Probiotics are good or friendly bacteria that are essential for good health.  Probiotic literally means “for life” as opposed to antibiotic meaning “against life.”  Probiotics are single-celled lactic bacteria organisms occurring primarily singly or in pairs.

The super three probiotics are Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Bifidabacterium Bifidum more often just referred to as Acidophilus, Bulgaricus and Bifidum.  Steptococcus Thermophilus is an additional part of the classic yogurt culture that promotes bacterium colony growth and repopulation.  There are several additional very beneficial forms found in probiotic supplements available without prescription.

More than 100 trillion bacteria are present on the digestive intestinal wall and the vaginal mucosa of humans. The good bacteria in the body perform multiple functions to protect you against harmful bacteria and all the negative health problems that can result from excessive pathogenic (dangerous) bacteria.

Your gastrointestinal tract amazingly provides fuel for energy, immune response enhancement and nutrient delivery, plus the ability to promote digestive movement and waste disposal. The human gastrointestinal tract begins at your mouth and ends at your anus, being about 27 feet long while containing 400 different bacteria strains – 100 trillion in number with the bacteria alone cumulatively weighing about 3 ½ pounds.

The ability of good bacteria to benefit dietary health was first recorded in Sumerian tablets 6,000 years ago! Almost 100 years ago, the Russian born bacteriologist and 1908 Nobel Laureate, Dr. Ilya Mechnikov, stated, “Up to 90% of all known human illness and disease can be traced back to an unhealthy colon!” It was Dr. Ilya Mechnikov who coined the term “probiotic” to describe friendly bacteria that are essential “for life.”

Dr. Mechnikov’s extensive research demonstrated a direct link between human longevity and the necessity of maintaining a healthy balance and ratio of probiotics in the body to pathogenic bacteria of approximately 6 to 1.

If the friendly/unfriendly gut bacteria ratio gets out of balance with an excess of bad bacteria, some forms of yeast such as Candida that are initially harmless can adapt to become pathogenic and harmful candida albicans. The importance of maintaining a beneficial micro flora balance cannot be overemphasized if good health is to be maintained or regained.

Because probiotics are live bacteria, they must be fed to remain alive for a sufficient time to provide benefits in the gut.  FOS (Fructooligosaccharide ) as inulin is suggested as a “prebiotic” nutrient to fulfill this “probiotic” food need.

How are Probiotics Beneficial?

Probiotics reduce the presence and multiplication of many dangerous pathogens responsible for illness or death, particularly fungi, by competing with and replacing them on the intestinal walls. Fungi adapt and don’t give up easily in this war and thus a quality probiotic supplement is a daily need in this constant battle to keep good bacteria in command.

Probiotics are even more necessary for those on antibiotics, steroids and certain hormone drugs that destroy the good and bad bacteria in the digestive tract, with fungi quick to replace absent beneficial bacteria if probiotics are not replenished immediately.  The probiotics also aid the colon in attaining an optimum pH level (acidity/alkalinity balance) which enhances the immune response and helps eliminate a gut environment that promotes fungus growth and mycotoxin production.

When the population of beneficial bacteria in the intestine is increased, the immune cells avoid immune cell death (apoptosis) and dNA alteration by mycotoxin (fungal poison) invasion.  Mycotoxins prevalent in grains including corn, animal fats, peanuts and other foods are neutralized and inhibited by probiotics from multiplication in the gut. This action against harmful mycotoxins produces a reduced toxic load on the kidneys and liver which yields increased energy production.

Probiotics fortify the body by creating better absorption of nutrients including provision of complex B vitamins; particularly B6, needed for stress management in the body.  Add the generation of antioxidants, minerals and amino acids together with increasing the bioavailability (better absorption) of dietary calcium and the production of hydrogen peroxide necessary to inhibit vaginal yeast growth (candidiasis).

How do Probiotics Work in the Body?

Good live bacteria (probiotics) transform sugar and other carbohydrates into lactic acid which acts as a digestive antiseptic, while normalizing micro flora.  Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are the primary bacteria that produce the lactic acid as an end product during the fermentation of carbohydrates, including sugar in the digestive process.

As stated, the body has 3 1/2 pounds of 400 different species of bacterial micro-organisms within the intestinal tract. The food and water we consume bring huge amounts of these microorganisms into the body daily with most exiting the body as dry-weight fecal matter. As probiotics travel through the intestinal tract, the number multiply many times the ingested amount in a short period before populating the intestine wall.

The good bacteria have no teeth, but rather produce enzymes which identify, digest and deliver nutrients where they need to go in the body. The body is comprised of trillions of cells, each of which needs 100,000 or more enzymes to function correctly. Enzymes in turn are responsible for all metabolic processes in your body.

A deficit of probiotic friendly  bacteria in the human gut, results in a lack of adequate enzymes. Without these vital enzymes, nutrients and food (chyme) in the intestines do not get digested properly, hindering proper utilization and contributing to most disorders in the body.

Probiotics through enzyme production also help restore peristalsis, or the movement through the intestines of food being digested in this state known as chyme. Enhanced regularity in waste disposal in contrast to constipation, bloating and gas is an additional benefit.

Absent adequate beneficial probiotic bacteria, harmful toxin-producing fungi take over in the gastrointestinal tract; suppressing our immune cells and response.

To maintain or restore good gut health we should supplement with probiotics and a potent immune potentiator each day instead of weekly or monthly. As an example, the nutritional immune potentiator MG Beta 1/3,1/6 Glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae is integral to Acidophilus performing the task of supporting good bacteria growth on intestine walls.

Without the correct balance of 85% probiotic bacteria to 15% pathogenic bacteria in the gut (6:1 ratio), some form of pathogen-caused disease is a high probability due to an imbalance and overflow of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Maintaining this critical ratio is incredibly important to avoid systemic fungal and mycotoxin issues from a leaky gut.

The large intestine, including the colon, contains the majority and a broad array of micro-organisms, including good and bad bacteria. A major benefit of ingesting beneficial bacteria is the  needed repopulation of the gastrointestinal tract to replace those killed by antibiotics and other causes.

As previously stated, beneficial good live bacteria provide a gentle colon cleanse and detox while promoting a healthy liver and kidney function.  Because the process of removal of toxins competes with and diverts energy production in the body, the probiotics aid in restoring energy by reducing the toxic load on the kidneys and liver.

Probiotics also are beneficial in allergy elimination with one promising concept proposing the gastrointestinal area has a tolerance for a certain level of allergens that cause allergies. When the gastrointestinal tract becomes overly acidic due to a lack of beneficial bacteria, fungus rapidly populates the intestinal wall while piercing the intestine lining. This creates holes which leak allergens that then enter the blood stream and migrate throughout the body.

By repopulating the intestinal wall with good bacteria that inhibit fungal overgrowth, the leaky gut problem is avoided and allergens do not become systemic to then release excess histamines from the immune mast cells, causing inflammation, discharge and swelling in the mucous membranes in the sinuses, throat, lung, intestines and more.

What Damages and Destroys Good Bacteria in the Body?

Be aware we are exposed to tons of environmental toxins each day.  Intake and absorption of lead, mercury, cadmium plus over 4,500 other toxic heavy metal by-products, drugs including antibiotics, vaccines, plastics and a multitude of other dangers are creating havoc in our bodies. If our toxin load rises to a level the body cannot balance and remove, our immune system and other critical processes in our body become dangerously compromised and can fail.

While popular bowel cleansers and fiber do help eliminate toxins, reduce constipation and improve transit time through the bowel, they also remove beneficial as well as bad bacteria from the intestinal wall. These actions can have a negative impact on the composition and ratio of the 100 trillion bacteria living on the intestinal wall, if the good bacteria is not replaced by probiotics.

When good bacteria are damaged or killed without replacement by quality probiotics, the immune response declines and digestive upsets result such as diarrhea, constipation, gas and indigestion.

Because probiotics help protect from the invasion of pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms when taken regularly, bad bacteria, toxic fungi, environmental toxins and dangerous viruses are often deterred from creating, aggravating and prolonging negative health issues.

Threats to survival of good bacteria include but are not limited to antibiotics in food and drugs, birth control pills, hormone treatments, steroidal treatments, flouride, chlorine, carbonated drinks, radiation, stress, preservatives, additives, pesticides, fertilizers, environmental toxins, heavy metals, excessive stress and poor nutrition with excess sugar and carbohydrates; i.e. many things we eat, drink and breathe!

Yeast and the Intestinal Tract

With the overuse of antibiotics, birth control pills, hormonal drugs and diets including enormous carbohydrate intake, Candida albicans in women as pathogenic fungi in the yeast family occurs.  When candida overgrowth targets the vagina, vaginitis or inflammation of the vagina results, creating an acute, chronic health issue for millions of women.

Candida albicans can be hostile or a chameleon. Being a chameleon fungi means it can be beneficial or neutral in restricted amounts, but unfriendly and pathogenic (dangerous) if uncontrolled in reproduction and presence.

Aggressive and uncontrolled growth changes the yeast to a dangerous pathogenic fungus, which can trigger a host of symptoms and health problems including vaginitis and inflammation as noted above.

Probiotics also produce hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct  which is naturally beneficial in controlling candidiasis.  Clinical studies have indicated women who experience chronic yeast infections benefit from probiotic supplements, particularly when combined in difficult situations with an antifungal drug after physician diagnosis and prescription.

Many speculate when the fungus mycotoxins escape through the intestine walls and become systemic, chronic challenges such as Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue result.  Probiotics should always be used to help preserve, enhance and replenish good bacteria and especially when good bacteria is damaged or destroyed by the fungal metabolites known as antibiotics!

Fungi are amazing at mutating and adapting to become more and more resistant to the antibiotic regimens that are becoming less and less effective almost daily. Probiotic supplementation is a must to minimize this immunity by fungi to many antibiotics.

As a note, you cannot take too many quality probiotics as you are providing good bacteria and replacing bad bacteria which both genders should take each day to provide 15 to 50 billion colony forming units (cfu). This intake level is only 0.15% to 0.50% of a total 100 trillion cfu of bacteria on the intestine wall.

Symptoms of a Bacterial Imbalance

  • Sugar/carbohydrate cravings
  • Frequent fatigue
  • Constipation
  • Diarrhea
  • Poor Digestion
  • Acid Reflux and Heartburn (GERD)
  • Difficulty losing weight
  • Poor sleep
  • Joint inflammation and stiffness
  • Bad breath, gum disease & dental problems
  • Frequent colds, flu and infections
  • Candidiasis and chronic yeast/fungus problems
  • Acne, eczema, skin and foot fungus
  • Allergies and food sensitivities
  • Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue
  • Extreme menstrual or menopausal symptoms

Take a quality Probiotic supplement daily with a potent immune booster to nutritionally promote essential gastrointestinal health. Be “for life” in your life with quality probiotics.

About the Author

Frank M. Jordan is an author and nationally recognized health expert who received a degree in graduate and post-graduate studies from The University of Texas at Austin. Jordan is CEO of Carmel Research.

Reprinted by permission of Immunition Reports

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