Herbs for Health - Probiotics: the 'friendly" bacteria

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Published on Sunday, June 21, 2015

By Janet Husak and Karen Burton

Herbs for Health

Do you suffer from digestive or stomach ailments such as lactose intolerance, gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea or yeast infections? Then a probiotic may be what you need. A common interchangeable term is probiotic and acidophilus.  

Probiotics, commonly called “friendly bacteria”, are a group of bacteria containing live microorganisms. The normal, healthy human intestinal tract contains billions of micro-organisms, collectively called flora, that live in a delicate balance. Deficiencies of these friendly bacteria are not uncommon due to illness, stress, environmental factors, bad eating habits and antibiotic use. They break down our food into easily absorbable nutrients and help maintain our overall health. Probiotics are taken to improve the balance of bacteria in a person’s intestines. 

Various sources recommend taking probiotics daily anywhere from two weeks to two months to fully re-colonize the bowel’s healthy bacteria. After that, it may be possible to back off to two to three times per week. Antibiotics kill the “good” bacteria along with the bad, so it is a very good idea to take once you are done your prescription. Although it has recently been argued that it is okay to take probiotics and antibiotics at the same time  but two hours apart from each other. Start the probiotic as soon as possible and continue  it until at least a few days to two weeks  after the antibiotic course is complete. 

Acidophilus is a kind of bacteria that belongs to the category of probiotic. Fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc., provide some of these friendly bacteria, but probiotic supplements contain much greater amounts.

Janet and Karen own an operate Herbs for Health, on Mountain Ave. in Neepawa.