by Nicholas Dupont

Each week millions of Americans purchase probiotic-rich foods and supplements in an attempt to attain digestive regularity and balance. Business is booming—an April 2010 Mintel report showed that in the Natural Channel Sales for Digestive Health category, probiotics posted a 28 percent increase in sales from 2009 to 2010.

Dr. Chuck Olds, DC, of Olds Chiropractic clinics in Sparta and Cookville, Tenn., says the rising cost of healthcare and overuse of antibiotics are primary reasons why demand for natural digestive aids has increased.

“People are starting to learn,” Dr. Olds says. “It’s just getting too expensive to keep covering up the problem. Diet accounts for 90 percent of the solution, no matter what the problem is. But it does little if you don’t address the other 10 percent of the problem with probiotics.”

While consumers are sold on wanting to look and feel like the happy-go-lucky celebrities that tout probiotic food products, they know little about what they’re taking in. A recent report from the Natural Marketing Institute shows that approximately 70 percent of consumers say they aren’t knowledgeable about the health benefits of probiotics.

With an overwhelming response to probiotic advertising campaigns, consumers are desperate for education on what probiotics are, the symbiotic relationship they have with the gut and how many probiotic strains are enough (or too much). Here are some basics to help you choose a probiotic product that’s right for you.

Conflict in the gut: Probiotics help win the war

Inside the gut, there’s a quiet territorial war raging between several different types of beneficial and non-beneficial micro-organisms. On one side, beneficial bacteria engage in a symbiotic relationship with the body: It helps you break down food and absorb essential vitamins and nutrients. In return, it feeds off of a portion of the food you take in and is allowed to survive and multiply.

On the other side, non-beneficial bacteria, particularly yeast (candida albicans), feed, survive and multiply off of the sugars, starches, yeast breads (this type of yeast is called saccharomyces) and alcoholic beverages we consume.

All of the micro-organisms compete with each other to colonize in the gut and multiply. If non-beneficial bacteria colonize the colon and outnumber the beneficial bacteria, the results can include ulcers, weakened immune system, irritable bowel syndrome, vaginal infection and diarrhea.

Taking a probiotic supplement helps keep yeast, viruses and other harmful microbes at bay and creates a healthy and neutral environment in the gut, increases the efficiency of digestion, promotes better gut-related immune response, helps lower incidence of allergic responses and improves repair of damaged intestinal cell membranes.

Antibiotics: They don’t just kill bad bacteria

Just as its name suggests, antibiotics do not discriminate when it comes to destroying micro-organisms, both beneficial and non-beneficial. It’s akin to a nuclear bomb, wiping out everything in its path. While antibiotics can help the body level the playing field, it also opens up the door for harmful bacteria to gain the upper hand in next round of the micro-war.

“I heard it said once that if you’ve had just one round of antibiotics in your lifetime, you have a yeast problem,” Dr. Olds says. In order to keep pace with the growth of bad bacteria, supplementing your diet with a probiotic is crucial to sustaining intestinal balance.

What to look for

Lawrence Bronstein DC, CNS, DACBN, a 26-year veteran of Mahaiwe Chiropractic, Health & Nutrition Services in Great Barrington, Mass., says effective probiotic therapy is based on the particular needs of the individual and involves more than just picking up some yogurt at the local grocery store. If you want to tap into the full potential probiotics have to offer, Dr. Bronstein encourages consumers to take a close look at these factors:

Potency and types of strains: More isn’t always better
There are hundreds of different types of probiotic flora (aka “strains”). So it goes without saying that the potency and types varies from person to person depending on what is lacking. Dr. Bronstein says you should stick with a product that contains at least four of the six strains most likely to be needed, including bifidobacterium longum and five in the lactobacillus family, including acidophilus, plantarum rhamnosus, salivarius, and casei. Lactobacillus is a lactic acid bacteria that competes with other bacteria—working in an increasing acidic environment that it creates. Doing so allows it to reduce other harmful bacteria from growing and flourishing.

Many probiotic manufactures use the “more is better” approach, offering products containing up to 16 strains. However, Dr. Bronstein says taking too many strains can end up doing more harm than good.

“There is such a thing as taking in too much flora,” he says. “It takes you right back where you started by making you feel bloated, experience indigestion and cause changes in stool.”

Dr. Olds recommends Advanced Formula™ FlorEnz™, which is available through healthcare practitioners.
“I’ve had great success with it for 14 years,” he says. “None of my patients have ever had an adverse reaction to it.”

Additives: What some food companies don’t tell you
What is more enticing than taking in your daily dose of probiotics in the form of a delicious cup of strawberry, vanilla or peach yogurt? Ah, but there’s a likely catch if the product contains certain food additives, according to Dr. Bronstein.

“It’s a problem consuming probiotics or nutraceuticals in presence of food additives such as sugar and food colorings in typical yogurt produced commercially,” he says.  And yeast (candida albicans) thrives on processed sugar making the commercially produced yogurt flavored with sugar counterproductive.”

Expiration date
Probiotics lose approximately 10 percent of their viability when they expire. Micro-organisms continue to die off after that, until they’re rendered virtually ineffective. Make sure the product you choose has an expiration date of at least one year or less from the current month.

Enzyme supplements complement probiotics
Intestinal health is the cornerstone and predictor of overall health. In addition to probiotics, digestive enzyme supplements are also a key player in the pursuit of intestinal harmony. The human body naturally secretes digestive enzymes in the pancreas and sends them to the small intestine to help break down food components. Raw foods contain their own enzymes and initiate the digestive process in the mouth as you chew. With these foods aiding in the process and completing two-thirds of the digestive process before it reaches the acid portion of the stomach, they keep the demand for digestive enzymes low and allow the body’s enzyme supply to concentrate on other areas (such as immune function and response to inflammation).

However, cooked and processed foods don’t have these enzymes present, and as a result, place considerable strain on the body to make up for the difference. Indigestion and other intestinal-related problems are very likely to follow. Fortunately, adding a digestive enzyme supplement to your diet can supply you with the necessary enzymes to handle the foods you eat. To learn more about probiotics and how digestive enzyme supplements complement probiotic therapy, visit www.enzymesinc.com.

Nick Dupont is the marketing coordinator and copy editor for Enzymes, Inc. in Kansas City, Mo.

Suggested reading

“Gastrointestinal Remedies: Digestive and Immunity Health.” Mintel International Group Ltd. 1 April 2010. Chicago, Ill. 3 March 2011
<http://oxygen.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen/display/id=482514>

“The Emerging Probiotics Market: Consumer Trends & Market Opportunities.” The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI).  1 November 2009. Harleysville, Penn. 3 March 2011
<http://www.nmisolutions.com/r_probiotics_toc.html>

With late December holidays just around the corner–your mouth is already watering in anticipation of savoring your favorite candies, pastries, dishes and snacks.

While treats and comfort foods can be bliss for a time–they have a way of giving you amnesia after the fact. When it comes time to munch again, you’ve forgotten that eating goodies from morning till night will comes with a price. You’ll be extremely gassy, bloated and laying on the couch with an urge to unbutton your pants and give your insides some room to breathe. You may spend more time looking at bathroom wallpaper than enjoying your family or holiday entertainment.

You know it’s going to happen every year, but you do it anyway. You try to fight back against indigestion by taking scores of antacids and “the pink stuff.” But those remedies only cover up the underlying issue—the lack of complete food component breakdown.

To aid in the digestive process and help the body ease the discomfort that holiday foods carry,  include a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement with every meal. By adding to the digestive enzymes your body uses to break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, you’ll also help decrease the amount of gas and fatigue you may experience afterward. And if you love the relish tray, there are also digestive enzyme supplements derived from plant sources to help maximize the digestion of legumes (beans), cruciferous vegetables and high fiber foods.

Digestive enzyme supplements may be the best gift you’ll receive this holiday season–one that allows you to have your fruitcake—and not pay the price for eating it, too.

While the term “organic” may carry with it a certain perception that anything labeled as such is pure and flawless, cooked and processed organic foods can’t be digested any easier than their non-organic counterparts.

Organic food advocates claim that organically grown foods are healthier because they are not raised with non-organic methods such as pesticides, non-organic fertilizers, antibiotics and hormones. However, during cooking and processing, organic foods lose vitamins and food enzymes, just as non-organic foods do.

Food enzymes, which are natural enzymes that both organic and non-organic raw foods possess, begin the process of breaking down food when you start chewing. When the food reaches the stomach and small intestine, half of the work has already been done, allowing food nutrients to be more easily and completely absorbed. But when food enzymes are cooked and processed out, the body must use more of its own enzyme resources to compensate. Improperly broken down food often leads to indigestion, gas, and bloating. And with the body working overtime, you may also feel fatigued after you finish eating.

To maximize the nutritional value of organic food, supplement your diet with a daily vitamin, probiotics, and a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement, which helps break down any type of food and replace lost food enzymes.

What type of food do you crave? Do your favorite snacks or meals consist of fruits, fried foods, vegetables, sugar, nuts, meats, dairy or all of the above? How do you typically feel after you eat? Are you energized, relaxed, focused, sleeping on the couch or in the bathroom?

Regardless of what you love to eat, here’s four ways to get the most out of your food and not pay the price afterward.

1. Use time to your advantage. We’ve all heard the term portion control, but how easy is it to sit down on the couch after a hard day and eat just 10 potato chips or a tiny helping of spaghetti with meat sauce? Difficult, to say the least.

To avoid overeating—and the indigestion that can come with it—next time eat the small portion and then set an egg timer for 20 minutes. Research shows that it takes food approximately 20 minutes to reach your stomach and turn off the hunger signal to your brain. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to say ‘no’ to another helping when you’re body says you’re full. If you don’t think this approach will work, promise yourself another helping when you set the egg timer, then wait and see. Chances are, you’ll change your mind.

2. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. When you eat foods high in sugar or sodium, you increase the amount of water the body needs to carry out the digestion and keep food moving through the intestines. If the food doesn’t contain enough natural water, constipation and slower digestion can be the result. If the food is so loaded with sodium or sugar that it has to draw water from the body, diarrhea and dehydration can be the result. Be sure to drink at least 64 fluid ounces of pure water per day.

3. Chew your food—no, really. The stomach doesn’t act like a high-powered blender. It takes a while for it to turn food into the creamy substance it needs before it can absorb nutrients and complete digestion. So it follows that the more broken down your food is when it reaches the stomach, the less effort the body has to put out to convert it into energy. Chewing each mouthful at least 20 to 30 times will also allow the enzymes in your saliva to start breaking down fats and carbohydrates right from the get go. If food sits in the stomach too long, a build up of gas can occur and cause reflux.

4. Take a digestive enzyme supplement. Because most of the foods we eat today are cooked or processed, they contain little or no natural enzymes that aid digestion. Ever wonder why you feel tired after eating? Your body is exhausted from trying to make up for the lack of enzymes, which do all the work.

Raw foods have increased in popularity because of their enzyme content. Supplemental enzymes can ease digestive stress on the body and help it better absorb nutrients from food. Enzyme blends that offer broad-spectrum digestive support, also include enzymes for problems that can stem from eating beans and vegetables or dairy.