By now, you should have read up all about how the gut works, where your feel good hormones come from & what damage anti-biotics can do to you, even if taken only once!
To continue on from that, I wanted to help you to develop a deeper understanding of gut bacteria, live cultures and the vital role that a balanced gut plays in your life.
As I wrote in the first post of this series Why Your Gut CAN Make You Smile most of the body’s feel good hormones and pain relief chemicals are found in the gut. Your state of mind is basically ruled by what is going on in your gut region.
So, why are probiotics and cultured food & drinks like Kefir so important?
In his book “Natural Alternatives to Anti-biotics†by Dr John McKenna talks about the story of anti-biotics from creation to current uses and damaging side effects today. He also mentions that the balance of healthy gut bacteria or flora is THE most crucial way to avoid illness. Healthy bacteria actually stave off the colonisation of harmful bacteria in the body.
They also balance the pH levels of the gut wall which prevents harmful bacteria from attaching & starting to grow.
Healthy bacteria, if in abundance, can literally wage a war against any harmful inhabitants that pop by for an unwelcome visit. If you think about it, most illnesses are either viral in which case your immunity needs a boost or bacterial. Bacterial illness probably means that your intestinal flora is WAY out of balance & you’re not replenishing it often enough.
If one use of anti-biotics even just after birth can affect your intestinal flora population for up to 7 years, then imagine what continued use of anti-biotics is doing to you! It leaves you vulnerable to harmful bacterium because all your good bacteria that are fighting on your behalf for your health have been slaughtered by the anti-biotics.
Now, its almost common practice for Doctors to recommend a pro-biotic to be taken along with antibiotics. Yes, that’s a good start but think about it - you’re still taking an antibiotic. You’re still killing off good gut bacteria... possible as you ingest them!
Its not enough to just take a pro-biotic when you’re on anti-biotics. Nearly every single one of us has been on anti-biotics at least once... that means we MUST take pro-biotics everyday for the rest of our lives to build up the population or colony of healthy gut bacteria & maintain it for our own health.
As I wrote in the first post of this series Why Your Gut CAN Make You Smile most of the body’s feel good hormones and pain relief chemicals are found in the gut. Your state of mind is basically ruled by what is going on in your gut region.
So, why are probiotics and cultured food & drinks like Kefir so important?
In his book “Natural Alternatives to Anti-biotics†by Dr John McKenna talks about the story of anti-biotics from creation to current uses and damaging side effects today. He also mentions that the balance of healthy gut bacteria or flora is THE most crucial way to avoid illness. Healthy bacteria actually stave off the colonisation of harmful bacteria in the body.
They also balance the pH levels of the gut wall which prevents harmful bacteria from attaching & starting to grow.
Healthy bacteria, if in abundance, can literally wage a war against any harmful inhabitants that pop by for an unwelcome visit. If you think about it, most illnesses are either viral in which case your immunity needs a boost or bacterial. Bacterial illness probably means that your intestinal flora is WAY out of balance & you’re not replenishing it often enough.
If one use of anti-biotics even just after birth can affect your intestinal flora population for up to 7 years, then imagine what continued use of anti-biotics is doing to you! It leaves you vulnerable to harmful bacterium because all your good bacteria that are fighting on your behalf for your health have been slaughtered by the anti-biotics.
Now, its almost common practice for Doctors to recommend a pro-biotic to be taken along with antibiotics. Yes, that’s a good start but think about it - you’re still taking an antibiotic. You’re still killing off good gut bacteria... possible as you ingest them!
Its not enough to just take a pro-biotic when you’re on anti-biotics. Nearly every single one of us has been on anti-biotics at least once... that means we MUST take pro-biotics everyday for the rest of our lives to build up the population or colony of healthy gut bacteria & maintain it for our own health.
Another way to go about it is to look at replacing some of your dairy with live cultured drinks like Kefir. Kefir is full of colonising bacteria - the kind that take up residence in your gut & settle in for the long haul. Most other products have bacteria that temporarily balance the gut as they pass through but are gone once you go to the toilet...
Another reason that gut bacteria needs to be part of your daily routine is to ensure you’re getting the optimal amount of vitamins & minerals from all your other good foods. You can eat greens, organics, fresh fruit & vege & avoid all processed products till the cows come home - if you don’t have a healthy colony of gut bacteria, the vitamins & minerals won’t be synthesised properly & will pass through the body unused.
Ever noticed your urine after taking a course of vitamins? Bright, fluro yellow right? That because a great deal of the vitamins you’ve ingested are either a) not readily bio-available or able to be easily broken down in the gut for absorption or b) not broken down because you don’t have enough gut flora to do the job.
So you’ve just bought yourself some really healthy urine.
When your healthy gut bacteria isn’t at the optimal level, harmful bacteria will break through the gaps in the gut wall - following that is all sorts of toxins & bacterium. This is what is called a “Leaky Gutâ€. Its literally holes in your gut whereby toxins, bacteria & all sorts of other nasties flood into your body without being filtered... so they’re going straight into your bloodstream working to make you sick. Over and over again.
Gregor Reid, PhD, a professor of microbiology, immunology and surgery at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and president of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics stated, "There isn't a drug on the market that can match bacteria for its far-reaching implications on healthâ€.
Wonder why you’re always told by Doctors to continue a course of anti-biotics until its finished? Because the harmful bacteria can survive - even just one of them is enough to reinfect the body. BUT what they DON’T tell you is that the gaps left in the gut wall from the slaughtered good bacteria is a result of taking the full course of anti-biotics. They kill ALL bacteria - good and bad.
So, you take your course of undiscerning anti-biotics & finish it. The harmful bacteria are all dead - great! But so is all your GOOD bacteria. Not so great. From there, you have to KEEP on taking your pro-biotics daily to rebuild that good bacteria so they can line the walls of your gut & prevent toxins & nasties leaking into your bloodstream unchecked.
If you DON’T continue taking your probiotics & restoring your gut health, you WILL get sick again. Its just a matter of time & which of the nasty bacterium infect you enough first. There’s often DOZENS of nasties trying to invade you all the time. The good bacteria keep them in check... but when the good bacteria’s forces are down, there’s nothing stopping the bad ones from going nuts & out on into your bloodstream. That’s how bacteria spread so fast & you can get sick quickly.
Ever been around someone with a bacterial infection like a vomiting bug then been sick in 24 hours? That’s why. Your gut flora can’t help you because you’ve killed off the colony & haven’t helped rebuild it.
Another reason that gut bacteria needs to be part of your daily routine is to ensure you’re getting the optimal amount of vitamins & minerals from all your other good foods. You can eat greens, organics, fresh fruit & vege & avoid all processed products till the cows come home - if you don’t have a healthy colony of gut bacteria, the vitamins & minerals won’t be synthesised properly & will pass through the body unused.
Ever noticed your urine after taking a course of vitamins? Bright, fluro yellow right? That because a great deal of the vitamins you’ve ingested are either a) not readily bio-available or able to be easily broken down in the gut for absorption or b) not broken down because you don’t have enough gut flora to do the job.
So you’ve just bought yourself some really healthy urine.
When your healthy gut bacteria isn’t at the optimal level, harmful bacteria will break through the gaps in the gut wall - following that is all sorts of toxins & bacterium. This is what is called a “Leaky Gutâ€. Its literally holes in your gut whereby toxins, bacteria & all sorts of other nasties flood into your body without being filtered... so they’re going straight into your bloodstream working to make you sick. Over and over again.
Gregor Reid, PhD, a professor of microbiology, immunology and surgery at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and president of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics stated, "There isn't a drug on the market that can match bacteria for its far-reaching implications on healthâ€.
Wonder why you’re always told by Doctors to continue a course of anti-biotics until its finished? Because the harmful bacteria can survive - even just one of them is enough to reinfect the body. BUT what they DON’T tell you is that the gaps left in the gut wall from the slaughtered good bacteria is a result of taking the full course of anti-biotics. They kill ALL bacteria - good and bad.
So, you take your course of undiscerning anti-biotics & finish it. The harmful bacteria are all dead - great! But so is all your GOOD bacteria. Not so great. From there, you have to KEEP on taking your pro-biotics daily to rebuild that good bacteria so they can line the walls of your gut & prevent toxins & nasties leaking into your bloodstream unchecked.
If you DON’T continue taking your probiotics & restoring your gut health, you WILL get sick again. Its just a matter of time & which of the nasty bacterium infect you enough first. There’s often DOZENS of nasties trying to invade you all the time. The good bacteria keep them in check... but when the good bacteria’s forces are down, there’s nothing stopping the bad ones from going nuts & out on into your bloodstream. That’s how bacteria spread so fast & you can get sick quickly.
Ever been around someone with a bacterial infection like a vomiting bug then been sick in 24 hours? That’s why. Your gut flora can’t help you because you’ve killed off the colony & haven’t helped rebuild it.
As the gut is the SECOND brain, “disorders†like ADHD, hyperactivity, depression, anxiety are all DIRECTLY linked (not casually, directly) linked to the health of the gut & the amount of intestinal flora.
I have suffered from depression and / or anxiety nearly my entire life. I am a highly strung person by nature but anxiety is an entirely different beast & is nothing to do with personality type. When you feel anxious, where do you feel it? Your gut! With that, I went on to start increasing my gut bacteria & haven’t stopped since. I have been able to come off my VERY dangerous medication & maintain some sense of stability & not a panic attack in site.
My daughter, although young, is highly emotional. She feels everything acutely & can get very distressed over what appears to be a non-issue. I have been giving her intestinal gut flora via a kids probiotic & using goats kefir in place of milk in her formula recipe. Her mood changed almost immediately! She had been fussing, whiney, not wanting to sleep & had to be held 24/7. As soon as you put her down, awake or asleep, she’d scream until you picked her up. This isn’t common for my baby girl. Once we introduced more gut flora into her very limited diet (she’s only 8 months old) she responded almost instantly.
She was even exposed to a vomiting bug that her father & I picked up after a friend visited, having had it in her home. Missy was the ONLY one who didn’t get sick! Hubby and I were crook as for days & she was fine... and only 6 months old. I can ONLY attribute that to her healthy gut flora because of having been breastfed & kefir fed since birth. What other reason is there?
If you can, incorporate kefir beverages into your family home.
They don’t have to be dairy! You can make kefir from oat, rice, almond or coconut milk. We use goats milk because of the similarity to human breast milk.
Its SO easy to make, you needn’t bother buying it.
How to Make Kefir Beverages At Home:
Take 1 litre of your preferred milk (be it almond, rice, cows, oat, soy or goats) & gently heat on the stove in a pan to EXACTLY 46 degrees. You’ll need a thermometer for this.
If you overheat the milk above 46 degrees, just take it off the stove & allow to cool down a little until its the right tempreture. When its 46 degrees, remove from heat & whisk in one sachet of Kefir cultrues. Then place a lid on the pot & keep in a warm place (about 20 - 25 degrees is good). I used to put the pot on the floor about 3 feet from the heater in winter. Now I leave it out on the kitchen bench in half sun for the day.
Leave it in this warm place for at least 12 hours then put in the fridge for another 12 hours.
After that, its ready to drink! Before you do though, scoop out nearly a cup full & freeze to make your next batch of kefir. This is called “mother†or starter culture. You can do this up to 5 times from the one sachet. After that, start on a new sachet.
And that’s it! Easy!
Cultured food stuffs are starting to take the world by storm - and you can see why! Its the fastest, tastiest way to recolonise your gut as kefir culture (as opposed to yogurt culture) are ALL colonising bacteria. That means they’ll set up house in your gut & get to work right away on recolonising or relining your intestinal walls, plugging the gaps that allow toxins & bacteria to flood into your bloodstream.
I have suffered from depression and / or anxiety nearly my entire life. I am a highly strung person by nature but anxiety is an entirely different beast & is nothing to do with personality type. When you feel anxious, where do you feel it? Your gut! With that, I went on to start increasing my gut bacteria & haven’t stopped since. I have been able to come off my VERY dangerous medication & maintain some sense of stability & not a panic attack in site.
My daughter, although young, is highly emotional. She feels everything acutely & can get very distressed over what appears to be a non-issue. I have been giving her intestinal gut flora via a kids probiotic & using goats kefir in place of milk in her formula recipe. Her mood changed almost immediately! She had been fussing, whiney, not wanting to sleep & had to be held 24/7. As soon as you put her down, awake or asleep, she’d scream until you picked her up. This isn’t common for my baby girl. Once we introduced more gut flora into her very limited diet (she’s only 8 months old) she responded almost instantly.
She was even exposed to a vomiting bug that her father & I picked up after a friend visited, having had it in her home. Missy was the ONLY one who didn’t get sick! Hubby and I were crook as for days & she was fine... and only 6 months old. I can ONLY attribute that to her healthy gut flora because of having been breastfed & kefir fed since birth. What other reason is there?
If you can, incorporate kefir beverages into your family home.
They don’t have to be dairy! You can make kefir from oat, rice, almond or coconut milk. We use goats milk because of the similarity to human breast milk.
Its SO easy to make, you needn’t bother buying it.
How to Make Kefir Beverages At Home:
Take 1 litre of your preferred milk (be it almond, rice, cows, oat, soy or goats) & gently heat on the stove in a pan to EXACTLY 46 degrees. You’ll need a thermometer for this.
If you overheat the milk above 46 degrees, just take it off the stove & allow to cool down a little until its the right tempreture. When its 46 degrees, remove from heat & whisk in one sachet of Kefir cultrues. Then place a lid on the pot & keep in a warm place (about 20 - 25 degrees is good). I used to put the pot on the floor about 3 feet from the heater in winter. Now I leave it out on the kitchen bench in half sun for the day.
Leave it in this warm place for at least 12 hours then put in the fridge for another 12 hours.
After that, its ready to drink! Before you do though, scoop out nearly a cup full & freeze to make your next batch of kefir. This is called “mother†or starter culture. You can do this up to 5 times from the one sachet. After that, start on a new sachet.
And that’s it! Easy!
Cultured food stuffs are starting to take the world by storm - and you can see why! Its the fastest, tastiest way to recolonise your gut as kefir culture (as opposed to yogurt culture) are ALL colonising bacteria. That means they’ll set up house in your gut & get to work right away on recolonising or relining your intestinal walls, plugging the gaps that allow toxins & bacteria to flood into your bloodstream.
There’s a reason that breastmilk is great for babies - not least because its chocked FULL of great gut bacteria that colonise their little, developing gut region. That’s why breastfed babies have a higher immunity & less chance of illness later in life. Their gut is fully colonised with tonnes of good bacteria.
For those of us who can’t or couldn’t breastfeed (I was one - milk dried up because I was ill) all is not lost! You can colonise the gut with kefir & probiotics daily. This will go a LONG way to ensuring health for you precious babies right through life. Health, physically as well as mentally & emotionally!
People will healthy guts can handle stress better, adapt to change faster, have a higher pain threshold (because the pain relief chemicals are in abundance in the gut & readily released when needed) and have a more balanced state of mind.
So, do yourselves and your family a favour - start supplementing kefir & cultured foodstuffs into your diet & taking daily probiotics, religiously.
Love and probiotics,
The Eco Mum xo
For those of us who can’t or couldn’t breastfeed (I was one - milk dried up because I was ill) all is not lost! You can colonise the gut with kefir & probiotics daily. This will go a LONG way to ensuring health for you precious babies right through life. Health, physically as well as mentally & emotionally!
People will healthy guts can handle stress better, adapt to change faster, have a higher pain threshold (because the pain relief chemicals are in abundance in the gut & readily released when needed) and have a more balanced state of mind.
So, do yourselves and your family a favour - start supplementing kefir & cultured foodstuffs into your diet & taking daily probiotics, religiously.
Love and probiotics,
The Eco Mum xo
Sources: http://www.pointofreturn.com/probiotics.html
Leaky Gut Syndrome - UK
Leaky Gut Cure
Natural Therapy Pages
Sydney Morning Herald
Natural Alternatives to Anti-biotics by Dr John McKenna
How to Raise a Healthy Child in SPITE of Your Doctor - Dr Robert S Medehlson
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome - J Wilson
Leaky Gut Syndrome - UK
Leaky Gut Cure
Natural Therapy Pages
Sydney Morning Herald
Natural Alternatives to Anti-biotics by Dr John McKenna
How to Raise a Healthy Child in SPITE of Your Doctor - Dr Robert S Medehlson
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome - J Wilson
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