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Gut Health

By May 30, 2018 No Comments

 

Gut health….  What is it?

My recent mother in law would down a bottle of Yakult every morning saying it “was good for her gut”.  She did this for years, all the while eating a less than healthy diet. I did not think this small bottle could help undo the harm she was doing with her poor diet, and all the health problems that never seemed to improve.  However being the good daughter-in-law, I kept my mouth firmly closed… Last Tuesday, I went to “The Gut Movie”, and I feel it raised more questions for me than answers. So, here I am asking the question.. what is gut health, and is Yakult all it’s cracked up to be? I sat down today and did some reading on the gut and Yakult.  More on Yakult later…

Your gut, or gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is lined with microbes collectively called the microbiome, which includes bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. This microbiome has a large impact on the immune, metabolic and neurological systems in our body..

The idea that bacteria are beneficial can be tough to understand. We take antibiotics to kill harmful bacterial infections and use antibacterial soaps and lotions more than ever. The wrong bacteria in the wrong place can cause problems, but the right bacteria in the right place can have benefits. This is where probiotics come in. Probiotics are commonly known as friendly, good, or healthy bacteria, they are live microorganisms that may be able to help prevent and treat some illnesses. Promoting a healthy digestive tract and a healthy immune system are their most widely studied benefits at this time, but there are even studies around autism and ADHD being linked to the gut.

The root of the word probiotic comes from the Greek word pro, meaning “promoting,” and biotic, meaning “life.” The discovery of pro