Bacteria – your gut is full of it! But wait, before you call the doctor for antibiotics, you need to know that not all bacteria are bad. In fact, the “friendly” bacteria that reside in your gut are vital to maintaining a healthy digestive system, and amazingly and perhaps most importantly, a healthy immune system.
Unfortunately, the intestinal flora in many people’s digestive tracts are out of balance, with not enough of the good bacteria. Why the decrease in beneficial gut bacteria? It seems the way we live in our modern society is contributing to the imbalance. Consider some of the following theories as to why:
- The use of antibiotics has killed off the good bacteria in addition to the bad.
- The sterilization of our society – hand sanitizers and antibacterial cleansers – has eliminated the good bacteria along with the bad.
- The decreased consumption of cultured and fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut, means we are not consuming as many probiotics in our diets as we used to.
- The increased consumption of whole or processed grains that have not been soaked, sprouted or fermented first has eliminated a source of prebiotics, which feed the good bacteria.
- Processing and pasteurization of foods destroys any beneficial bacteria that may naturally occur in the foods.
- C-sections and formula feeding changes the microflora of infants, possibly contributing to food intolerance and allergies.
Given the pace of our society today, it is unlikely that any of the above behaviors will change, so people are going to continue to have this bacterial imbalance.
If you have gluten intolerance or celiac disease like me, your gut flora may especially be out of whack. WANT TO READ THE REST? Go over to Attune Foods, where you will read some research on probiotics and celiac disease, and also get some advice on probiotics from Certified Nutritionist Sheila Wagner. Go to rest of article on probiotics… and please leave a comment over there!
MH says
I just found your site by googling “are Hebrew national hotdogs gluten free?”. And I’m so glad I did. My oldest daughter was just diagnosed with dairy, gluten, and salicylate issues and I’m trying to learn as quickly as I can what she should eat that is appetizing for a 9 year old. I’m almost in tears to learn you’ve already done so much of the work for me and many others. Thank YOU! MH Toth
Annie Peters says
Your work is so totally right on! Nature is not flawed. It knows what our bodies need. This generation is afraid of anything that isn’t sanitized, bleached, purified or processed in some way that takes away the chance of a germ. My mother-in-law raised her family on a farm. When her first born was still in diapers she sterilized EVERYTHING he might put in his mouth. Until one day he crawled outside the kitchen door and she found him sitting there eating chicken manure! She never sterilized anything again! I’m not recommending that children eat chicken manure of course, but there is a lesson we need to learn about the goodness of God’s earth just the way He made it. We also lean too far toward medications to solve natural problems. Children are meant to sleep well and sleep long in order to function. This applies especially to the autistic, but sleep is hard for them to acquire. Drugs can make it worse or can make it a drugged sleep. I have spent the last 9 years of my life making weighted blankets for the autistic. I started off interested in their effectiveness in bringing on a natural night of sleep, but at this point I am amazed at the difference they can make. All the good we can do is so easily undermined by a poor night of sleep. Annie – Salt of the Earth Weighted Gear ( http://www.saltoftheearthweightedgear )