Probiotics –Extremely Body-Beneficial Microorganisms

Those microorganisms in yogurt, kombucha, sauerkraut, miso, buttermilk and pickles…yes pickles, that keep your digestive tract on track. Hopefully you eat some of them daily through your normal food intake to maintain your gut health. If you are getting your daily dose, excellent! If you aren’t, you could be missing out on their most significant health benefit.

Probiotics are now found to be helpful in fighting antibiotic resistance, or what’s known as a superbug, that has “epidemic potential” according to scientists.

A Little Background On Antibiotics & Formation Of Superbugs

According to the CDC (2016), “Antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents, have been used for the last 70 years to treat patients who have infectious diseases.” They are still considered a major advancement in the medical field. A new problem has arisen concerning antibiotics, that antibiotics are too frequently used.

When antibiotics are overprescribed, used too frequently, or used unnecessarily, it causes bacteria to genetically change so that antibiotics don’t work in combating them anymore. This is known as bacteria resistance. Even the most powerful antibiotics available on the market can’t stop the superbug created by overuse of antibiotic medications.

For example, if you have a viral infection and your doctor prescribes antibiotics, which have no effect on stopping viruses, the medication has been misused. This puts you at greater risk of developing antibiotic resistance.

Another example is if you don’t follow your doctor’s orders in completing a 10 day course of antibiotics. If in four days you feel better and you stop taking the antibiotics, you have just put yourself at greater risk of forming a superbug.  All bad bacteria must be killed so that it does not mutate, form resistance, and begin generating more of the mutated superbug bacteria in your body.

Don’t be upset when a doctor does not prescribe antibiotics for a viral illness or common cold. They are doing you or your loved one a favor.

Antibiotics In Our Meat

This epidemic is not just stemming from doctor prescriptions. The animals that we consume are also treated with antibiotics, and eating that animal meat lends to additional exposure to antibiotics.

Dr. Mercola (2015) states, “China alone uses 12,000 tons of colistin in animal farming each year. The US uses 800 tons annually, and another 400 tons is used in Europe.”

This poses a pressing health threat that is extremely concerning to doctors and health officials across the world. They are calling on all countries to change how we use antibiotics. If we don’t stop the use of antibiotics in animals used for consumption, we may, as a world population, become immune to antibiotics.

The CDC states, “Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.”

Could Probiotics Be A Solution?

Bastyr University (2013) states, “Probiotic supplements may greatly lower the threat of an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" that has alarmed hospital leaders.”

Probiotics are beneficial live bacteria and yeasts that can naturally be found in your body. They are spectacular for your health and digestive system. The problem is that when you are sick and need to take antibiotics they kill all bacteria, the good and the bad. To help your body restore balance, it’s a good idea to eat foods rich in probiotics or supplement with them.

Bastyr University researchers (2013) found that “patients taking probiotics, or live bacteria, were 64 percent less likely to experience the effects of Clostridium difficile, an infectious bacterium that can cause severe diarrhea and life-threatening inflammation of the colon.”

It’s important to include probiotics as a part of your everyday healthy life routine.

How To Avoid Becoming A Bacteria Resistance Statistic

Fermented Foods Should Be On The Daily Menu

Fermented foods are rich in probiotic microbes. These microbes fight off bad bacteria in your intestinal tract by combating bad bacteria that cause disease. They are also a natural form of antibiotics. Keeping your probiotics microbes strong in your body is like providing your body with its own, non-prescribed antibiotics produced right in your gut.

The human body is amazing. You just need fuel it with the right foods.

What Foods And Beverages Are The Best For Getting Your Daily Dose Of Probiotics?

• Coconut kefir water
• Kombucha drinks – Live Kombucha Sodas are my fave!
• Apple cider vinegar
• Yogurt
• Dark Chocolate
• Sauerkraut
• Miso soup
• Pickles
• Kimchi
• Sourdough bread
• Tempeh
• Soft Cheeses
• Buttermilk
• Green superfood powders

Eating probiotic rich food is the number one way to consume probiotics.

Some of the above foods are an acquired taste. If you don’t see yourself changing your diet to include any of these foods, you can always use a dietary supplement, which is the second best way to consume probiotics.

Probiotic Supplements

If you already take a daily multi-vitamin, why not just add a probiotics supplement into the mix? There are capsule forms that you just swallow in the mornings. However, you want to select the best supplements.

Look for a supplement that is not necessarily high in number of bacteria, but one that is rich in the variety of strains of bacteria it contains. Make sure the supplement you buy at least has:

• L. acidophilus
• B. longum
• B. bifidum

Also, make sure the bacteria are guaranteed to be alive. Dead probiotics are useless. They must be able to reach your gut while alive to be effective in their duties. That means that the capsule must be strong enough to survive stomach acids.

If it’s possible, find a probiotic supplement that is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, non-GMO, and sugar-free.

Conclusion

You will know that your chosen probiotic supplement is working if you have better digestion, you feel better overall, you don’t get sick as often, and you don’t seem to have stomach problems anymore. Those are the trademark benefits of probiotics. Plus, you can be less concerned about your body developing bacteria resistance.

Your health is in your hands. There are simple things you can do each day to keep your body healthy, and those choices can lead to longevity in life. Probiotics are essential to your health and may protect you from the next global epidemic. Protect yourself and your family with one simple daily addition – probiotics.