The deal with probiotics & yogurt…

A lot of my clients inquire about the health & fitness benefits of Yogurt with probiotics aka

acidophilus – and who could blame them since it’s latest marketing topic of the yogurt 

industry…so I decided to research the subject and share it with everybody.

Acidophilus is a general name for dried or liquid, live cultures of lactobacillus bacteria,

which are considered "friendly" organisms in the intestinal tract. You can buy acidophilus

products in health food stores & although most are milk-based, nondairy versions using

carrot juice are available. All provide much higher concentrations of the desired

organisms than acidophilus milk, yogurt, or other cultured milk products.

I strongly recommend taking acidophilus whenever you’re on antibiotics, especially the

broad spectrum ones like tetracycline and ampicillin, which destroy your intestinal flora.

Acidophilus can be helpful to those with chronic intestinal conditions such as irritable

bowel syndrome (IBS), for cholesterol control, enhanced immunity, to lower risk of

allergies, prevention of urinary tract infections & prevention of vaginal yeast infections.

You also can waste money on acidophilus products that do not contain viable organisms –

so go with a health food store purchase rather than a big box discount brand – and check

those expiration dates! The best products on the market contain a new strain,

Lactobacillus GG that has been shown to get into the intestinal tract when you swallow it.

One brand to look for is Culturelle (www.culturelle.com)…

A homeopathic MD recently told me that 60% of our immune system is in the

intestinal tract…so keeping it healthy and balanced keeps you the same way!