Probiotics

The human is made up of roughly equal numbers of body cells and microbes.  Around 100 trillion good bacteria live in and on our bodies. Because bacteria are so small, we usually ignore them unless we get an infection, then we try to kill them. If we think of bacteria at all it is usually negatively. In fact we are continually at war with bacteria and it is a huge ongoing battle. Most of us are not even aware that we started the fight and it harms us more than we know. There are bacteria that are good and necessary to keep us healthy, and they are also being killed. Remarkably, scientists estimate that only 1-10% of total bacteria have even been discovered. It is important to understand the difference between good bacteria and bad bacteria. “Good” bacteria, also known as beneficial bacteria, are defined as any bacteria that are beneficial to the body and enhance health. Actually, most bacteria are “good.”  Comparatively speaking, there are only a handful of “bad” bacteria out there. Of the total bacteria in our bodies, a healthy balance is 85% good bacteria and 15% bad bacteria. Good bacteria in our gut help to protect us by crowding out some of their dangerous relatives that can cause disease. One of the most well known types of good bacteria are probiotics. Many of these bacteria reside in our gut, helping our body break down food and absorb nutrients.  Not only do we live in harmony with these good bacteria, but they are essential to our survival. Exposure to antibiotics can alter a person's bacteria, sometimes upsetting the ability of the microbiome to protect us.  There are many other factors that can wear away at your stomach's protective barrier and cause poor gut health such as stress, old age, tobacco or alchol, or regular use of common pain relievers. This may allow growth of harmful bacteria which can interfere with your immune response and cause multiple problems. The digestive system is really very important for our well being, as it is involved in so many processes. If our gut health is poor, we can end up with impaired immune and nervous systems, and it can also wreak havoc with our hormonal function throughout the body. This is because our gastrointestinal tract is loaded with neurons that release the same neurotransmitters found in the brain. This is why you have "gut feelings" and any upset to this equilibrium can throw your body and mood into chaos. H. pylori is a common type of bacteria that grows in the digestive tract and has a tendency to attack the stomach lining. It infects the stomachs of roughly 60 percent of the world’s adult population. H. pylori infections are usually harmless, but they’re responsible for the majority of ulcers in the stomach and small intestine. The second big issue here is to understand fairly recent changes in the food supply. Factory farming is an unsustainable method of raising food animals that concentrates large numbers of animals into confined spaces. Antibiotics are added to the animal feed or drinking water of cattle, hogs, poultry and other food-producing animals that are not sick to help them gain weight faster or use less food to gain weight and control diseases. Giving antibiotics to animals will kill many bacteria, but resistant bacteria can survive and multiply. When food animals are slaughtered and processed, these bacteria can contaminate the meat or other animal products. Also top soil depletion due to soil and water erosion and intensive use of chemicals is a grave threat to our continued ability to produce adequate food. Human security at risk as depletion of soil accelerates. Steadily and alarmingly, humans have been depleting Earth's soil resources faster than the nutrients can be replenished. If this trajectory does not change, soil erosion, combined with the effects of climate change, will present a huge risk to global food security. Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat and fruits and vegetables have become less nutritious. Approximately 40 percent of soil used for agriculture around the world is either degraded or seriously degraded - meaning, among other things, that 70 percent of the topsoil - the layer allowing plants to grow - is gone. The majority of our food supply has been, devoid of adequate amounts of vital nutrients for decades. Most processed foods have chemical additives in them that are supposed to make up for all those deficiencies, these substitutes usually flavor enhancers and sugar, etc. We are not keeping up with the nutritional needs of the average individual. And the volume of fast food consumed every day is even more deficient in nutrients. More and more, chemicals are used to increase the productivity of vegetables that are grown on large commercial farms. Those chemicals become part of fruits and vegetables as do all the chemicals and hormones used to create bigger, more cost-effective animals used to feed us.Those chemicals are not something that the body was made to digest and are toxic, which leads to disease. Add to that most foods lack adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals and the causes of so many disorders like diabetes and heart disease. Some people just start taking pills, but the big pharmaceutical companies have become the most profitable industry in the world, and they would rather keep us on maintenance medications than cure us.  It is clear that it is time that we find natural methods of getting and staying healthy. So your best bet may be adopting a diet rich in probiotics. If you don’t have enough probiotics, the side effects of this deficiency can include: digestive disorders, skin issues, candida, autoimmune disease, and frequent colds and flus. Historically, we had plenty of probiotics in our diet from eating fresh foods from good soil and by fermenting our foods to keep them from spoiling. However, today because of refrigeration and dangerous agricultural practices like soaking our foods with chlorine, our food contains little to no probiotics and most foods today actually contain antibiotics that kill off the good bacteria in our bodies. By adding more probiotic foods into your diet, you could see various health benefits. Possibly the most popular probiotic food is live cultured yogurt but the problem is there is a large variation on the quality of yogurts on the market today. Some brands of yogurt actually contain live cultures and some do not and many of them have been cooked and have too much sugar. Good bacteria can be found in fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and pickles. Fermented foods are also high in enzymes, which can aid digestion. Fermenting cabbage transforms this humble vegetable into a tangy, palate-pleasing side dish and also encourages the growth of gut-friendly bacteria. Homemade fermented cabbage is simple to make, it is healthy, and tastes yummy with a tangy and crunchy texture. The fermented cabbage gets ready in around 3 days, though you can continue fermenting it before refrigeration for more days if you like it more sour. You’ll want to choose a large ceramic or glass jar where you can fit a cap or plate on top to be able to press on the vegetables and keep them under the brine at all times. Mold can make you sick. The important thing to keep in mind is that the vegetables should stay submerged all along to prevent mold from forming. Links Microbiome     Dr. Zach Bush Dr. Mark Hyman on Probiotics  Fermented cabbage recipes Probiotic Smoothie The Chicken Industry Cowspiray Antibotic Overuse Genetically Modified Foods Huffington Post healthy food 1 Minute Probiotic  Miso Soup