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Weight Loss Exercise

What are Probiotics?



Jillian Michaels

Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most common types of microbes used as probiotics; but certain yeasts and bacilli  may also be helpful. Probiotics are commonly consumed as part of fermented foods with specially added active live cultures; such as in yogurt, soy yogurt, or as dietary supplements.

Foods High in Probiotics

Yogurt is rich with probiotics and health experts recommend that it should be consumed 2-3 times a week. Milk, vitamin supplements and super-sugary food varieties also contains high amount of probiotics. Just check the label of these food products.

Probiotic-rich foods are often referred to as fermented or partially fermented foods. These foods often contain high probiotic counts thanks to the healthy bacteria and yeasts that develop during the fermentation process. Brine-cured pickles without vinegar and sauerkraut are fermented foods that contain probiotics. Sourdough bread made with true sourdough starter can be another source of probiotics

Benefits of Probiotic Foods

Probiotics in Yogurt

Probiotics in Yogurt

Experiments into the benefits of probiotic therapies suggest a range of potentially beneficial medicinal uses for probiotics. For many of the potential benefits, research is limited and only preliminary results are available. It should be noted that the effects described are not general effects of probiotics. Recent research on the molecular biology and genomics of Lactobacillus  has focused on the interaction with the immune system, anti-cancer potential, and potential as a biotherapeutic agent in cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, travellers diarrhea, pediatric diarrhoa, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

In doing a quick search on Wikipedia gave me the following info on probiotic health claims

Managing lactose intolerance
As lactic acid bacteria actively convert lactose into lactic acid, ingestion of certain active strains may help lactose intolerant individuals tolerate more lactose than what they would have otherwise

Prevention of colon cancer
In laboratory investigations, some strains of LAB (Lactobacillus bulgaricus) have demonstrated anti-mutagenic effects thought to be due to their ability to bind with heterocyclic amines, which are carcinogenic substances formed in cooked meat. Animal studies have demonstrated that some LAB can protect against colon cancer in rodents, though human data is limited and conflicting

Lowering cholesterol
Animal studies have demonstrated the efficacy of a range of LAB to be able to lower serum cholesterol levels, presumably by breaking down bile in the gut, thus inhibiting its reabsorption (which enters the blood as cholesterol). Some, but not all human trials have shown that dairy foods fermented with specific LAB can produce modest reductions in total and LDL cholesterol levels in those with normal levels to begin with.

Lowering blood pressure
Several small clinical trials have indicated that consumption of milk fermented with various strains of LAB may result in modest reductions in blood pressure. It is thought that this is due to the ACE inhibitor-like peptides produced during fermentation.

Improving immune function and preventing infections
LAB are thought to have several presumably beneficial effects on immune function. They may protect against pathogens by means of competitive inhibition (i.e., by competing for growth) and there is evidence to suggest that they may improve immune function by increasing the number of IgA producing plasma cells, increasing or improving phagocytosis as well as increasing the proportion of lymphocytes and Natural Killer cells.

Whats next for Probiotics?

As we can see and as I have seen over the last couple of years more and more foods are claiming that they are high in “probiotics” and now the research is coming to let us know more and more about the goodness as of probiotics. I am seeing more and more journal research letting us know of new therapies and research that has proven the good of probiotics, so this is definitely something to watch for still in the future,

Recent Tags: probiotics, what are probiotics

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Weight Loss Exercise

Let Go of Your Poisons



It is never get even more obvious than in the 21st century the earth is brimming with poisons. It’s almost impossible to avoid them, regardless of our best attempts.

The media, joined with the ‘all-knowing experts,’ counsel us to keep away from insecticides, household cleaners, ready-made foods, food additions, chemicals, and gas-guzzling sport use cars. If it were up to them, we might all be living in the mountains of Montana, growing our own food, drinking aquifer-supplied water, and driving a hybrid vehicle ( or riding a pony ). While this could be the ultimate way to live, sadly for me and you, it’s likely not practicable.

That is the reason why it’s far more significant to build and support our immunological defenses and make healthy decisions when referring to what we eat, what kinds of foods we decide to have in our houses, and which foods we offer for our youngsters. I do not wish to sound paranoid. And my need isn’t to make you eliminate all the things that are part of our day-to-day lives. I can nevertheless, offer you the following systematic proof and tenets for avoiding what I think to be the most poisonous substances to our bodies, which drain our energy!

Sugar and hydrogenated fats

These 2 poisons, which are consumed by the many billions of tons every year, literally drain our psychological and physical energy and infect us like a poison. Here is a short outline of each and how they adversely affect us : ‘Sugar makes you ill-tempered, hyperactive, and causes early aging…’Sugar is the most consumed substance in the world.

Let Go of Your PoisonsIt makes us need more and leaves us cranky when we do not have it. Systematic proof has demonstrated that sugar, in any form, exhausts necessary B vitamins and lowers your body’s resistance to bacteria, viruses, and yeasts.

Sugar makes you irascible, hyperactive, and causes early ageing thru a method called glycosylation. And to no surprise, sugar is the number 1 culprit to adult-onset ( Type II ) diabetes, which is sometimes self-induced because of a life charged with sugar. At about that point, the body isn’t capable of dumping insulin correctly, which becomes a heavy risk factor for heart problems.

The Insulin ‘Roller Coaster’ Ride

I am always trying to stay aware of the Insulin Roller Coaster and here is how it works:

  1. When you eat sugar, it enters your veins and arteries all at the same time, rather than slowly as it might as an element of a whole-food, natural meal.
  2. Now that there’s not enough sugar in your veins, your grey matter senses that you’re in a period of famine and sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol.
  3. Adrenaline releases power from sugar stored in your liver and muscles, and cortisol starts to break down your own muscle bulk into sugar like I shared earlier.

This sequence is named the insulin – adrenaline – cortisol cycle. It is a vicious ‘roller coaster’ ride for your body, and the worst part is that thereafter, it leaves you feeling dozy, cranky, and amazingly, craving rather more refined, sweet foods. So, the cycle starts over again.

As is obvious, it is a downward spiral to poor health and even poorer energy levels.

Hydrogenated Fats

We have heard it revealed that we eat too much fat and that fat consumption has risen in the last twenty years, and we are becoming an increasingly overweight country. See, fat consumption hasn’t modified : what has changed is the sort of fats folk eat. Today, more folk are getting the great majority of their fats from ‘manmade’ hydrogenated fats and other dangerous polyunsaturated oils like palm and corn oil. So long as twenty, thirty, or fifty years back, folks ate a diet which was composed of more natural fats and oils, for example butter, coconut oil, lard, olive oil, and fat ( fats from red beef and lamb ).

‘…fat consumption hasn’t modified : what has changed is the sort of fats folks eat.’ Now, our diets are polluted with hydrogenated fats. These kinds of fats have been obviously linked to slowing our bodies ‘ metabolic processes and have also been proven to cause coronary disease and cancer.

The reason explaining why these fats are especially dangerous to us is perhaps because polyunsaturated and hydrogenated oils have been the subject of damaging economic processes ( literally restructuring them ), that has rendered them damaging. Their new ‘trans molecular structure’ hasn’t, until just recently, been integrated into human physiology and is thus unrecognizable to the body. Since their intro to our diets, just in the previous century, these unhealthy oils have been associated with coronary disease, cancer, and other degenerative defects. The best examples of a polyunsaturated oil is corn, cottonseed, canola, vegetable..

Make no mistake, these harmful fats must be avoided at any price.

By avoiding sugar and hydrogenated fats, you may

  • Improve concentration and psychological lucidity ( with short term memory )
  • Augment your immunological system,
  • Slow the process of aging, Reduce fat on the stomach area,
  • Eliminate future ‘junk-food’ longings.

The way In which I see it, the most pressing issue is the food industrywhich flourishes on the sales of sugar and ‘fake’ fat-containing foods. They have succeeded in brainwashing the general public and suppressing the scientific discoveries that eating whole foods, which contain almost no sugar, and meat and oils, which contain natural saturated fats don’t make a contribution to heart problems ( like they claim ) and are, in reality a good way to lift your metabolic rate, stabilise your cholesterol levels, improve your immunological system, and supply energy and structural integrity to every living cell in your body.

To avoid these poisons, here’s all you do tomorrow

Daily Energy Exercise : Rid Poisons from Your Life

Take  ten minutes to test the food labels and ingredients panels on the foodstuff in your cabinets, chiller, and on the counters in your kitchen. WHAT To Have A Look For? Any foods that list sugar, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, or maltodextrin as the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd ingredient.

These are generally stuff like soda, breakfast cereals, and white-flour products like bread.

Any foods that list hydrogenated, partly hydrogenated, or corn, palm, or cottonseed oils. These are sometimes stuff like processed, frozen, and almost all deep-fried foods and even some nourishment bars and most meal replacements / protein drinks.

Make a special trip to the corner store to pick up items to replace these dangerous harmful foods. Rather than breakfast cereals, use steel cut oats. Rather than white-flour products, use whole-wheat or soy-flour type products. Simply indoctrinate yourself that you Won’t eat deep-fried foods any longer ( like Fries, chips, and so on. ). Deep-fried foods and the oils they are cooked in have no nutritive health benefits at all.

Replace your salad dressings and cooking oils with healthy oils like flaxseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and walnut oil. Read your labels carefully.. Manufacturers are very careful about making an attempt to hide these damaging ingredients.

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