Probiotics
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What are probiotics?
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Probiotics are live microorganisms that may beneficially affect our health by improving the delicate balance of the intestinal microflora.
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Most probiotics consist of lactic acid bacteria, such as Lactobacilli, Lactococci and Bifidobacteria. Also some yeasts are supposed to be probiotics.
This organisms exist naturally, with many others, in large numbers in our intestines. With an inbalance of our intestinal microflora we're not able to digest our food in a proper way and pathogenic bacterias will become dominant in our guts.
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- The intestinal microflora starts building up right after childbirth. A healthy intestinal flora is of uttermost importance to digest food and to absorb its nutritients in a proper way.
- The intestinal microflora is indispensable for the development and the maturation of the immune system. A healthy gutflora strengthens the intestinal mucosa and it helps to ward off pathogenic organisms and allergens.
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The dietary use of live microorganisms has a long history. Cultured dairy products, (yoghurt, kefir) were often used therapeutically before the existence of microorganisms was recognized. Recent controlled scientific investigation supports these traditional views, suggesting that probiotics are a very valuable part of a healthy diet.
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| ...Bifidobacterium. A strain commonly used in probiotics |
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What disrupts a balanced, healthy intestinal flora?
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- Antibiotics,
- Chemotherapy
- Food poisoning (see the green guys left)
- Contaminated water
- Prolongated stress, angst, fear
- Drugs, some medicines,
- Abuse of alcohol,
- Endurance sports, (Jogging)
- An unbalanced diet, junkfood,
- Some synth. foodadditives.
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| ..Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli |
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Result: Poor absorbtion of the nutrients in the food, bloated stomach, constipation, flatulence, diarrhea. Dehydration, depletion of minerals and vitamins. Stress on liver and kidneys, wasteproducts are circling around in the bloodstream. Pale, dry and unhealthy skin, bad, brittly hair, smelly breathing. Pain in muscles, low energy, low resistance to all sorts of bacterial and viral infections. Overgrowth with candida albicans. Poor condition in general.
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What is a good probiotic?
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A good probiotic has to survive stomach acid and the bile on its passage down to the guts. Adequate numbers of active bacterias have to reach the small intestines.
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In order to achieve this, the potency (number of viable bacteria per dose) has to be at least one billion per gram. All of the products in our shop exceed this number!!! Don't trust a manufacturer who doesn't indicate this on the label of your product. Furthermore, documentation of type of bacteria (genus and species), and the extent of research that has been published on health effects, must be provided for any strain being used in a preparation.
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What about the healthy probiotic drinks in the supermarket?
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There's a debate going on if they are probiotics in the good sense of the word. Some of them are simply useless. In most of them, the amount of added probiotic strains are too small, they never reach the small intestines in adequate numbers. Also the bacterias commonly present in fermented milkdrinks (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptotoccus thermophilus) are not very resistant to the acidy gastric juices in the stomach.
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Most probiotics at Health Quest come as a powder. Just mix a teaspoon into a cup of lukewarm water, stir it up after ten or fifteen minutes and drink it on a empty stomach. Preferably before going to bed. It doesn't taste bad at all. Don't eat right afterwards.
There are strains of probiotics specially designed for animals as well. Ask in our shop for more about it.
One of our cats had an incurable irritated bowel syndrome, the veterinarian could not help him. We cured him with probiotics.
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Which brand?
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Most probiotics in our shop are manufactured by Winclove. and it's co-brand Ecologic® This company is specialized in the research and developement of probiotics, they deliver reliable products which have proven their efficacy in many clinical trials. The nutritional scientists at Winclove develop and produce several strains of bacterias, aimed at specific diseases of the intestinal tract.
Sinds there are many different formulatins of probiotics, we want to know something about the dietary habits and the health status of our clients, just to make sure they leave the place with the right product...
Beside Winclove we have probiotics from Viridian and Solgar on our shelves. Proven quality as well, they are available as capsules.
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Probiotic links
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WHO on probiotics
Foodinfo: (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
Winclove: Website of the manufacturer of 'our' probiotics. (tip)
Ecologic® Co-brand of Winclove. High quality probiotics for specific applications.
Gutflora: scientific news and backgrounds, new developments. (tip)
Pandastudy: Allergy and probiotics
us-probiotics (comprehensive, up-to-date resource on probiotics)
candida/ A site on candida and probiotics
BBC Elderly 'should take probiotics'
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Advice:
Probiotics are not a replacement for a healthy diet. A healthy diet is preferably organic and fresh, it is well balanced food which is rich in fibers and unsaturated fatty acids.
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Health Quest by Joyce....Spiegelgracht 4.....1017 JR Amsterdam.....T:+31(0)20-421 82 06 .....Mailto:
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