Striving4Zen

Americans are spending more and more dollars each year on probiotic supplements, or so-called “friendly” bacteria. Studies have shown that probiotics—which you might purchase in the form of yogurt, capsules, miso, beverages, or powders—can treat a host of conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea caused by viral infection or antibiotics, vaginal yeast infections, hypertension, the common cold, and even acne. Over the past decade, consumer sales of probiotics in the U.S. have nearly quadrupled (growing from $115 million in 1998 to $425 million in 2008), according to Nutrition Business Journal.

But, according to a report released today, many of the most popular probiotic supplements don’t contain the amount of live bacteria listed on their labels. ConsumerLab, a private company that tests health and nutritional products at independent labs across the country, found that at the time a consumer buys a probiotic, it may contain as little as 10 to 58% of the amount of viable organisms listed on the label. “It’s shocking how many products really don’t have what they claim on their labels,” says Tod Cooperman, the president of ConsumerLab. “The buyer has to be careful.”

The highest quality probiotics that ConsumerLab tested included Advocare Probiotic Restore, GNC Nature Brand Best Super Acidophilus, and Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Dophilus. For the full report, click here.

Labels: bacteria, healthy diet, IBS, Probiotics, wellness, yogurt

Probiotic strains differ in many ways:

Acid and bile resistance

Many probiotics are not able to survive the acid in the stomach and bile in the small intestine to reach the desired location in the gut (in some cases, fewer than 25% can make it through) – look for acid and bile resistant probiotics.

Colonizers vs. transients

Many probiotics are not able to colonize in the gut, they provide health benefits only on their way through the gut. Colonizers multiply and continue to provide benefits when they reach their destination. This is one of the reasons that some probiotics start with very large numbers of bacteria (often less than 25% even make it to the gut) and then the benefits are very transient. Colonizers can multiply from 100 to 200-fold so 5 billion will become 500 billion or more.

Production of enzymes

Some probiotics are able to produce enzymes that aid in digestion – proteases, lipases, amylases, cellulase and lactase. Natural production of digestive enzymes declines with age so it helps to have the microflora produce additional enzymes.

Production of vitamins

Some probiotics are able to produce vitamins to help the user meet nutritional needs. This is particularly important with vitamin B12 since we lose the ability to absorb B12 as we age.

Production of natural antibiotics

Some probiotics can produce other helpful substances like bacteriocins that reduce numbers of harmful bacteria (one example is acidophilin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1). Certain strains (like DDS-1) can produce hydrogen peroxide that helps to reduce Candida albicans (responsible for yeast overgrowth).

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Labels: bacteria, digestion, digestive enzymes, healthy eating, Holistic Health, nutritional information, Probiotics, vitamin B12

There's a new yogurt in town: True Yogurt.

• It's no phony. The natural yogurt is made with 100% organic milk from a Vermont farm. Plus the peach and strawberry options contain real fruit and no artificial colors. (Vanilla is also totally pure.)

• You can trust your gut. The milk in True Yogurt is lactose free, and the yogurt is packed with five powerful probiotics along with the prebiotic inulin (a dietary fiber). Together, they work to help with digestion.

• It's full of flavor. Even the the plain has a subtle sweetness from the natural sugar in milk. And at less then 100 calories per container, it will get along well with your diet.

Intrigued? Discover true love at Whole Foods, Eli's Manhattan or Westerly Natural Market.

Thanks!

Labels: healthy food, new product, organic milk, prebiotics, Probiotics, True Yogurt, yogurt

It’s primarily known as a German staple, but most other European countries use it in their traditional dishes. It’s pretty easy to understand why it was so popular: it keeps for a long time without refrigeration. Dutch, German, and English sailors found that the vitamin C-rich kraut prevented scurvy on the open seas, and the fact that it was salted and fermented made it ideal for long voyages without other preservation methods.

As the name would suggest, sauerkraut is quite literally sour cabbage. The sour flavor comes from the process of lacto-fermentation, similar to the pickling of cucumbers. But instead of soaking the cabbage in a vinegary brine solution, sauerkraut preparation requires only salt and the lactic acid bacteria already present on raw cabbage. More than just a delicious, tangy flavor, the beauty of sauerkraut also lies in its considerable health benefits. Besides the great vitamin C content, there’s also tons of lactobacilli, a healthy probiotic that aids in digestion and immunity. The fermentation also produces isothiocyanates, compounds shown to prevent cancer growth in animal tests. Even cabbage itself is a good source of manganese, vitamin B6 and folate.

But most of us get our kraut at the grocery store. Going that route means you’re probably losing all the good stuff through pasteurization, so why not make your own? It’s incredibly easy. All it takes is some cabbage, whatever other vegetables or fruits you’d like to include (carrots, different colored cabbage, garlic, onions, beets, even apples), a sealable storage vessel, a bit of sea salt, and patience.

Read more for the recipe!

Labels: cabbage, easy recipe, health food, healthy diet, Probiotics, sauerkraut, Vitamin C

STRAIN	TARGETS	HOW IT WORKS	PRODUCT PICK	HOW MUCH?
Acidophilus CL 1285	Overall digestion	Balances gut flora	Bio K+CL 1285 Original Fermented Milk	Contains 100 billion CFUs* per 3.5-oz. bottle. Drink 1/4-1 bottle/day.
L. acidophilus DDS-1	Stomach cramps and gas triggered by lactose intolerance	Produces enzyme lactase and hydrogen peroxide	Natren Mega Vegi-Dophilus	Contains 2 billion CFUs per teaspoon. Start with 1/8 tsp/day and increase to 1 tsp/day.
L. rhamnosus GG	Immune system	Balances gut flora; inhibits growth of harmful bacteria	Culturelle	Contains 10 billion CFUs per capsule. Take one daily.
L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14	Vaginal yeast infections	Inhibits bacteria growth and yeast	Jarrow Fem-Dophilus	Contains 5 billion CFUs per capsule. Take one daily; increase to 2/day as needed.
L. plantarum 299v	Pain and constipation associated with IBS	Balances gut flora	Good Belly Multi-Probiotic Fruit Drink	Contains 20 billion CFUs per 2.7-oz. container. Drink one daily.
Saccharomyces boulardii	Antibiotic-provoked diarrhea	Balances gut flora	Florastor	Contains 5 billion CFUs per capsule. Take 6/day.
*Colony forming units Source

Labels: bacteria, digestion, healthy living, Holistic Health, Probiotics

Prebiotics and Probiotics:

Prebiotics and probiotics can restore the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that can be found in various foods. When you eat probiotics, you will add these healthy bacteria to your intestinal tract. Common strains include Lactobacillis and Bifidobacterium families of bacteria.

Prebiotics are non-digestible foods that make their way through our digestive system and help good bacteria grow and flourish. Prebiotics keep beneficial bacteria healthy.

Prebiotics in the Diet:

Prebiotics that feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut mostly come from carbohydrate fibers called oligosaccharides. You don't digest them, so the oligosaccharides remain in the digestive tract and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. Sources of oligosaccharides include fruits, legumes, and whole grains. Fructo-oligosaccharides may be taken as a supplement or added to foods. Yogurt made with bifidobacteria contain oligosaccharides.

Probiotics in the Diet:

Probiotic bacteria like lactobacilli are naturally found in fermented foods like sauerkraut and yogurt. Some foods will have added probiotics as healthy nutritional ingredients, which will be evident on the label.

Source

Labels: bacteria, fermented, greek yoghurt, healthy diet, prebiotics, Probiotics

LONDON - A daily probiotic drink, such as yogurt, may help keep hay fever away, researchers said yesterday.

A small study by the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, England, reported in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy, showed that probiotic, or "good," bacteria in a daily drink can change the immune system's response to grass pollen, a common cause of allergies, and balance antibodies in a way that may provide relief to people with hay fever.

Source

Labels: allergies, hay fever, Probiotics, study, yogurt

Probiotics are the new the cure-all craze. If you believe some food labels, they can solve everything from bad digestion to acne to obesity to a bad attitude. To help further their health claims, the marketing team at Dannon, which makes Activia, took things a step further. Banking on the power of suggestion, they came up with new names for two strains of bacteria found in their yogurt: bifidus regularis, which supposedly helps regulate your digestive system and L. casei immunitas, which, you guessed it, supposedly strengthens your immune system. Probiotics may have some benefits, but most yogurts contain them—the reason why there is a class action lawsuit accusing Dannon of a false advertising campaign promoting the benefits of their yogurt over others. The suit charges that the claims merely convince consumers to pay more. But how else would the marketing team get paid?

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Labels: Dannon, deceit, health trend, lawsuit, Probiotics, yogurt

Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt chain, inspired a passionate following when its first store opened, in West Hollywood in 2005. Its “original” flavor is smooth and tangy, and tastes like nothing so much as plain yogurt with a small amount of sugar.

The company initially touted its product as healthy, nonfat and all-natural, but did not say exactly what was in it.

There is, it turns out, a great deal more than yogurt in those costly white cups.

The ingredients list for Original Pinkberry has 23 items. Skim milk and nonfat yogurt are listed first, then three kinds of sugar: sucrose, fructose and dextrose. Fructose and maltodextrin, another ingredient, are both laboratory-produced ingredients extracted from corn syrup.

The list includes at least five additives defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as emulsifiers (propylene glycol esters, lactoglycerides, sodium acid pyrophosphate, mono- and diglycerides); four acidifiers (magnesium oxide, calcium fumarate, citric acid, sodium citrate); tocopherol, a natural preservative; and two ingredients — starch and maltodextrin — that were characterized as fillers by Dr. Gary A. Reineccius, a professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota and an expert in food additives.

Some of them can be characterized as natural, while others are clearly not, he said.

“Isn’t it amazing how many additives it takes to make something taste natural?” Dr. Reineccius said.

Many of the ingredients give Pinkberry qualities that nonfat frozen yogurt would not have naturally, Dr. Reineccius said.

“They are there to make something smooth, sweet and tangy that would otherwise be gritty and flavorless in a frozen state,” he said.

Pinkberry acknowledged that some of the claims it made when its stores first opened could not be backed up.

Pinkberry’s fiercest competitor, Red Mango, uses 14 ingredients in its frozen yogurt, the first of which is water. It also lists four types of active cultures.

Both companies use nonfat dairy products, sweeteners, emulsifiers and acidifiers, but only Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt includes artificial colors and flavors. Guar gum, another ingredient, is commonly used in frozen desserts to slow the melting process.

Pinkberry and Red Mango now enjoy the Live and Active Cultures seal of the National Yogurt Association, certifying that their frozen yogurt contains at least 10 million live cultures per gram at the time of manufacture.

But the specific health effects of live cultures — now called probiotics — and how many of them are needed to provide a beneficial effect have not been determined.

In January another yogurt-related class action lawsuit was filed, against Dannon, challenging the company’s claims that the benefits of its trademarked probiotics were “clinically” and “scientifically” proven.

Source

Labels: chemicals, Fro-yo, Pinkberry, Probiotics, Red Mango

Here are some other, healthier options for preventing or treating ailments that are commonly mis-prescribed with antibiotics:

Ear infections -- Avoiding pasteurized milk is one of the best proactive solutions to prevent ear infections. If your child does develop an ear infection, a simple solution is to put a few drops of breast milk in the ear canal every few hours. This usually works to clear up the infection within 24 to 48 hours and is far safer, less expensive and a better solution than putting the child on antibiotics.

Simple wounds -- As a natural antimicrobial remedy for wounds, try raw honey instead, which is a natural antimicrobial that works wonders when applied topically.

Common cold and flu – The most helpful remedy for reducing cold transmission is to wash your hands frequently with plain soap and water. Remember that antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary here as well and cause far more harm than good. Simple zinc lozenges can help speed up your recovery from a cold, if you do get one, by almost half. But perhaps one of the best tricks I ever found for treating colds and flu’s is simply putting a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in your ears.

Sinus infections – Drink hot liquids such as tea or chicken soup, and apply warm compresses to your face. Irrigating your sinuses using a nettie pot filled with a saline solution can also speed up your recovery.

If for some reason you do have to take an antibiotic, always make sure to supplement with probiotics: There is a common confusion that one should wait until finished with the antibiotic to start taking probiotics. Even though the antibiotic is killing the good bacteria, that is exactly when you need it the most. So I would triple the dose of probiotics, as it will tend to prevent the common diarrhea complication many have with the antibiotic.

SOURCE

Labels: antibiotics, Holistic Health, living holistically, natural health, natural therapy, Probiotics

BRAND
Some manufacturers do a better job of delivering viable microbes (identified on the label as CFU, short for colony-forming units) than others. Gary Huffnagle, PhD, a professor at the University of Michigan Medical Center, recommends Align, Culturelle, Florastor, Jarrow, and Theralac.

FREEZE-DRIED
Freeze-drying, which removes all water from the microbes, makes them more likely to survive in pill form. When you take the supplement, the fluid in your digestive tract reanimates the bacteria.

REFRIGERATED
Although some high-quality supplements don't require refrigeration, most do. Lower temperatures increase the length of time microbes can survive.

MULTIPLE STRAINS
Look for a supplement that contains different species of bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria. “You want a variety in your probiotics just as you want variety in your diet,” says nutritionist Elizabeth Lipski, PhD, CCN, author of Digestive Wellness (McGraw-Hill, 1995). And look for a different formulation the next time you shop for supplements. “I generally have people take one supplement for a while and then switch so they get exposed to a wide range of benefits.”

OTHER INGREDIENTS
Because probiotics need food as soon as they reanimate, a supplement that contains a prebiotic, such as inulin, can improve the flora's chances of surviving in your digestive system.

DOSE
“For the average, healthy person, a dose between 5-10 billion microorganisms is protective and preventive, even if you take the supplements only a few times a week. If you've been on antibiotics or are recovering from illness, aim for 30 billion,” Huffnagle recommends. Look for supplements that clearly state each dose's CFU. Avoid those that list ingredients only by weight.

EXPIRATION DATE
Because probiotics contain live microbes, they won't remain viable forever. Make sure to purchase in quantities that will enable you to finish the supplements before the expiration date.

Thanks!

Labels: digestion, flora, how-to, Probiotics, supplements

For a product where wholesomeness is part of its attraction, the fact Red Mango is real yogurt is a selling point, Kim says. Rival Pinkberry has been sued twice by consumers alleging the company shouldn't call its product yogurt because it doesn't have an adequate level of active cultures. Spokeswoman Lundy says, "Pinkberry has a policy not to discuss its formulation. It is a proprietary formula that is being aggressively sought by many competitors." As for the lawsuits, one has been settled and the terms are confidential, Lundy says. The other is pending.

But what is the concept?
The first key ingredient is the product itself, the yogurt. It's real yogurt, meaning it's fermented in much the same way that beer or cheese is made. Most desserts called frozen yogurt are made by mixing powder, milk and sugar.

Red Mango's process leaves behind living organisms called live and active cultures. These cultures give the yogurt probiotics, or organisms believed by some to have health benefits that continue to be studied, says Jeff Blumberg, professor of public health at Tufts University.
Probiotics are thought to assist digestion and the immune system. "It's better for you than ice cream," he says.

Unlike most products served by its competitors, the yogurt at Red Mango meets the National Yogurt Association's criteria for live and active culture yogurt.
Red Mango yogurt also has less sugar than many other frozen yogurt desserts. A half-cup serving of Red Mango contains 90 calories, about 18% fewer than a similar serving of TCBY's yogurt.
The next thing that sets Red Mango apart is the setting of the stores. Red Mango stores are designed to encourage lingering and feature comfortable stuffed chairs and hip music, much like a Starbucks.

SOURCE

Labels: Fro-yo, innovative, Pinkberry, Probiotics, Red Mango, yogurt

OK, the name sounds weird right -- So what is it? Well, Yogen Früz is an amazingly delish frozen yogurt treat that also contains probiotics, the bacteria that's good for you. You can get low-fat, non-fat or no-sugar-added frozen yogurt and have your choice of fruit blended in and it's really tasty. Yogen Früz has stores all over the world, but none in the U.S. until now. They're finally opening one up over here and guess where? San Francisco! Yipee! I am sure it's going to be a huge hit, which means if you're not lucky enough to live in the city by the bay, I'm sure more will be popping up soon. Check it out online at YogenFruz.com.

Labels: Fro-yo, health food, new product, Probiotics

Probiotics are the healthy bacteria found among the intestinal microbiota, the living microorganisms in the intestinal tract necessary for proper digestive health. They are responsible for protective effects including healthy turnover of cells in the intestinal tract, production of essential nutrients such as short-chain fatty acids and amino acids, stimulation of intestinal immunity and prevention of overgrowth of harmful organisms. Probiotics can also be found in fermented food products such as yogurt and in supplements.
....."A host of influences including genetics, environment, diet and disease can dramatically offset this balance of microbiota in the GI tract and affect our health."
Simin Meydan, DVM, PhD, also of the HNRCA at Tufts, reviewed the research on probiotics and suggested that probiotics consumption may positively enhance the immune response and allow for improved resistance to infectious diseases.
Yet, researchers are still unclear on the method of action behind probiotics' benefits. Robert Clancy, PhD, of The University of New Castle, Australia, suggested that there will be "Immunobiotic Evolution," stemming from the growing body of research demonstrating that probiotics have immune system benefits. In reviewing the research on the method of action, he said, "Research on probiotics is moving rapidly to identify the mechanism by which probiotics can stimulate the intestinal lining, how that function can lend benefit for protective immunity, diminish allergic hypersensitivity in the digestive trace and reduce cancer risk."
... Quigley offered several proposed methods of action including probiotics' anti-inflammatory properties, as well as displacing harmful bacteria and replenish the balance of healthy flora along the digestive tract.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061009/nym032.html?.v=67

Labels: Health, nutrition, Probiotics

Dr. Mercola
Good health begins in your gut, where there is supposed to be trillions of good bacteria to help build and protect your health. But virtually everyone -- due to contemporary lifestyles including a history of processed foods, processed supplements, antibiotics and other drugs, improper sleep, and much more -- have wiped away many of these good bacteria, leaving them with dangerously depleted defenses against disease.
For most people, it really is like they should have an army inside their gut defending against bad bacteria, viruses, and other invaders, BUT they've killed off most of their troops leaving only a meager few soldiers to do the work off an entire army!
You can of course guess the solution -- you need to replenish the "army" of good bacteria in your gut, and keep it replenished.
Probiotics are health-enhancing bacteria that replenish the microflora in your intestinal track, helping your body to digest and absorb food, as well as fight off many different illnesses and disease.
While it is only starting to receive its due attention by Western medical professionals, the health benefits of probiotics have been known for at least 100 years. Studies have shown that probiotics are effective for the control of:
-Inflammatory bowel disease
-Vaginal yeast infections
-Food and skin allergies in children
-Premature labor in pregnant women
-Recurrent ear and bladder infections
-Chronic diarrhea ... and more!
Of course, as I mentioned, they are essential to protect your immune system overall. If you are successfully able to change your diet so you are truly eating properly day in and day out, the need for probiotics decreases as it is somewhat similar to planting a garden. If you have plenty of healthy plants there is no room for the weeds to grow.

Labels: Health, Mercola, Probiotics