I just wanted to share a couple interesting articles I recently came across on probiotics:

An Astounding Discovery: Gut Flora Influences Brain Development

We have known for many years that disturbances within the digestive balance of power influences or causes almost every disease. I like to say that bad gangs set up shop in your digestive neighborhoods, often warring with each other. This nasty state of affairs not only generates excess toxic trash that often enters your general circulation but the gene signaling from the gang warfare causes immune system malfunction both inhibiting normal immunity and causing autoimmune reactions, allergies, asthma, and obesity.

However, this latest research is entirely new in our understanding of what is going on. It is saying that the contents of your gut and thus the type of gut genomic signaling that is going on while your brain is setting up shop in the first few years of life has a profound influence on how your brain functions then and later in life.

The proper formation of brain structure and the healthy plasticity of nerve networks are influenced by gut bacteria. This goes a long way towards helping to explain a great deal of human mental health issues and may shed a new understanding on how such problems get started. Extrapolating on the meaning of the data would certainly suggest that antibiotics, which disrupt normal bacterial evolution in the digestive tract, could be a significant cause or contributor to autism, ADHD, mood disorders, and generally lessened cognitive ability.

The proper development of the digestive tract is vital to immunity, digestive health, and likely brain health. Poor quality diets that depress immunity and lead to antibiotic use can send a person into a lifetime path of poor digestive function, poor immune function, and poor brain function. I’ve seen this a countless number of times. Read More

Probiotics and weight loss

Probiotics are microorganisms which are beneficial to the human host. These benefits can include improved digestion, increased immunity, enhanced energy levels, benefits to skin health, and, as new research suggests, perhaps even weight loss.

A Japanese study[1] published in 2010 showed a Lactobacillus probiotic to reduce abdominal fat by 4.6%, and subcutaneous fat by 3.3%. The trial recruited 87 overweight participants and randomly assigned participants a daily dose of fermented milk either with or without the probiotics, for a period of 12 weeks. The probiotic group given milk containing Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055, showed significant decreases in body weight BMI, in waist circumference, and in the hips.

It is also worth noting that prebiotics, the food source for probiotics, have seen preliminary studies examining their role in weight management. Some studies[7] suggest that prebiotics have a capacity to promote satiety, by increasing levels of the satiety hormone, glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), or by reducing the production of ghrelin, a peptide which triggers the appetite[8]. Read More