Dr. Joseph Mercola, MD, states emphatically, “Most people, including many physicians, do not realize that 80 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system, making a healthy gut a major focal point if you want to maintain optimal health.”
He also points out that there are 100 trillion bacteria in the average gastrointestinal (GI) system, and “optimally, the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria should be 85% to 15%.” But with most people's poor diets, the ratio is out of balance. In some cases it is reduced by 15% good bacteria to 85% bad bacteria.
What Is Meant by Good Bacteria
Bad bacteria are pathogenic. They are disease-causing microorganisms. Sufficient good bacteria in the GI (gastrointestinal) system will dominate that territory, because this is their feeding ground, forcing out bad bacteria. Without good bacteria, extracting nutrients from carbohydrates and converting them to energy would be impossible. These good bacteria are usually referred to as probiotic, or pro-life.
Probiotic bacteria also break down toxins for elimination and help absorb minerals. They even help create antibodies for pathogens. They also help keep harmless antigens from being attacked by antibodies, which is an immune system over reaction that is the basis of allergies. Friendly bacteria help form the mucosal immune system, a very basic element to your overall immunity.
Enough good guys in the battle of the body's microbes crowd out the bad guys. They are needed for overall good health. Low levels of probiotic bacteria invite all sorts of disease that seems unrelated to digestion, but most bad health is started by a bad GI system.
If one is on a really healthy diet of low sugar, no aspartame artificial sweeteners, no food processing additives like MSG or high fructose corn syrup, and consuming lots of fresh organic vegetables and whole grains, then one will approach the GI ratio of 85/15 probiotic to bad GI bacteria.
Probiotics Can Be Added
Obviously, if this has not been the diet for at least a few years, one needs to boost the probiotic content by supplementing at least until the diet has been changed for the better. And there are probiotic supplements available. Choosing the right one can be a bit baffling. Many brands contain several strains of probiotics, so you may need some advice from a knowledgeable source.
A crucial time to add probiotic supplements would be during and after a round or two of antibiotics. Antibiotics lack discrimination. While killing off the bad bugs, they do the same with the good guys in the gut. Collateral damage. So those good guys need to be restored with a strong probiotic supplement for at least a couple of months.
Probiotic supplements are pricey, and over time the natural approach to probiotics is better anyway. Those are usually found in fermented foods, such as Japanese nato, sauerkraut, certain cheeses and cultured milks. Avoid commercial cultured milks or yogurts. It's best to make your own yogurt or kefir with organic raw milk, which will take some searching. Pasteurized dairy is far from ideal. Inexpensive starter kits are available on line for milk kefir or yogurt cultures.
Then there is water kefir. You can order water kefir starter kits online also. The starter "grains" often resemble tiny translucent mushrooms. The grains proliferate in pure water and sugar. Water kefir grains multiply rapidly and the excess can be used each time for a new batch.
One starter kit should last you a long time if you follow the simple instructions faithfully.
Source:
“Probiotics Found to Help Your Gut's Immune System” (Commentary), 5 July 08 by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola.com
Paul Louis - Paul Louis has written several articles for a variety of subjects. He has retired from the mortgage - real estate madness in the USA and ...
