Alternative Health Blog

As we move, like it or not, into the cold, flu and strep throat season, there is good reason to consider getting more probiotics or “good guy” bacteria into our bodies. You can take probiotics supplements (ask an informed practitioner to make a recommedation) or look for yogurts and kefirs at the market.

What the probiotics can do is strengthen the immune system, especially the underrated but brain signal-sender digestive tract. Maybe even better, the probiotics can protect the gut’s health while taking antibiotic medications. Impressively, more doctors are recommending probiotic foods (including yeasts and sauerkraut) for just that reason. That’s a big change for even three years ago.

Offsetting the possible digestive grief of a 10-day course of antibiotics is a smart health strategy. An October poll by Harris Interactive reports that one in five U.S. adults taking antibiotics will suffer through medication-associated diarrhea than can be debilitating. Research shows taking probiotics along with your antibiotics course can reduce diarrhea and resulting dehydration symptoms by an average of 60 percent

One note from the federal Food and Drug Administration, not exactly the anti-pharma organization: About half of the 100 million antibiotic prescriptions issued each year are unnecessary because they only fight bacterial infections and not viruses related to the common cold or many flu strains.

Yikes.

Some of the most effective active cultures or probiotics to fight off antibiotics include saccharomyces boulardii or S. boulardii, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei, lactobacillus GG and bifidobacteria. Another probiotic, faecalibacterium prausnitzii (gotta love these names) has been found effective for minimizing symptoms of Crohn’s disease in a recent study by French scientists.

That study was published in this country’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yet France and other European countries are years ahead of us in prescribing probiotic foods and supplements for specific digestive conditions and overall immune system enhancement.

Now, where’s that yogurt spoon?

Bob  Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.