What are probiotics? If you have irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, or just plain ol' trouble going to the bathroom, then you've probably heard of probiotics. The word probiotics literally mean greek for "for life", however, what probiotics actually are is a little more interesting.
Back when I was younger people started going crazy about keeping everything clean. Antibacterial this and antibacterial that, and it just got worse as I grew older. Now, it seems every cleaning product we have has some antibacterial something in it. Farmers even use antibacterial agents on our foods to keep them clean. For the most part, all this antibacterial stuff is good. Because all bacteria are bad for you, and killing them off with cleaning products is just what we need. Right?
Well, that's partially true. But what if I told you that along with bad bacteria, there was also good bacteria. Bacteria that lives inside you and helps you perform your daily bodily functions. Digesting food, fighting off other bacteria and stuff like that. What I've described above is a very basic description of what probiotics are and how they can help you out.
The Good Bacteria That You've Never Heard About
Probiotics are good bacteria that live temporary in your intestines. They can't actually stay there permanently so you need to keep ingesting them to keep the getting the benefits. The unfortunate part about this you can only mostly get probiotics naturally from fermented foods. For most people this means yogurt and kefir - a fermented milk drink. On top of all this, you'd need to eat these types of products almost daily to get enough probiotics to feel the effects.
Since probiotics are taken through the mouth, they have to pass through the stomach to get to your intestines. The good bacteria have to pass through an extremely acidic environment, so most of them die. To get a sizable amount bacteria that survive to make it to your intestines, you need to take at least 100 million bacteria in.
100 million bacteria isn't really that much, but trying to count that many is very difficult. When you make a fermented drink or probiotic product, you have to figure out how many bacteria is in it, and it can change over time, as the bacteria are live creatures and will die off over time. This means that probiotic products have shorter shelf lives than most supplements.
Where to Buy Kefir Online - Can I Order Kefir Grains Over Internet
Kefir is a simple drink that is made from the fermentation of sugar solution from many products including rice, water, sugar solution, milk, coconut and many others. You will need to inject bacteria and yeast in the solution, leave it for a few days and it will be ready to drink.
Kefir and Its Benefits
On my search to find products that aid with food allergies, I discovered a product call Kefir that is a Probiotic. Fermented from live kefir grains, Kefir milk contains bacteria and yeasts composed of lipids, proteins and sugars. The Kefir grains work to break down the sugar in milk, which makes this milk more tolerable for those who are sensitive to lactose.
Kefir Grains - Kefir Health Benefits
In 1908, Metchnikov wrote in his book "The extension of life" that the secret of longevity found in the Russian Caucasus Mountains was Kefir. Kefir is actually cultured milk that people made and consumed. The villagers of the Caucasus Mountains gave us the Caucasian yoghurt and kefir (milk fermentation product).
