Bacteria Helps You Stay Healthy

Dr. Mercola had a great article today about the microflora in your gut. In the article he says that:

Probiotics, along with a host of other microorganisms, are so crucial to your health that researchers have compared them to “a newly recognized organ.”

To give you an idea of how much microflora you have, your body contains about 100 trillion cells. They say that only 1 in 10 is a human cell. The rest are bacteria and microorganisms.

I think it is fairly common knowledge by now that without the bacteria in your digestive tract you wouldn’t be able to digest food properly.

Problems occur though when the balance of beneficial bacteria and harmful microorganisms gets disrupted. Digestive problems can come first then, if the bad stuff goes too far out of control, you can have problems in other areas. Candida overgrowth is a common one.

What can upset this balance?

  • antibiotics
  • chlorinated water,
  • antibacterial soap
  • sugars
  • pollution and other chemicals

The antibiotics, chlorinated water, and antibacterial soaps kill indiscriminately, both the good and the bad bacteria. The sugars feed the bad bacteria to the point where they grow out of control and begin to infest the rest of  your body

As Dr. Mercola states, probiotics are important. What he doesn’t talk about are the prebiotics, the substances that support the probiotic organisms. Lactoferrin is one of these prebiotics.

One way that lactoferrin may support the beneficial gut microflora is through the regulation of free iron in the bloodstream. Lactoferrin binds with free iron to transport it across the cell membrane, so elevated levels of lactoferrin reduces the availability of free iron. Read here about more benefits of lactoferrin.

To support a healthy gut, consider prebiotics in addition to your probiotics.

Wayne Woodworth

PS. If you are looking for one, here is the lactoferrin supplement that I use.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and I do not offer medical advice. If you have a condition then please see a qualified medical practitioner. Also, if you purchase anything through a link on this website you can assume that I may earn a commission.

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