Real Thing Pro-Probiotic- 30’s

What? PRO-biotics are live bugs (like good bacteria or yeasts) that benefit the host they live on (like you). PRE-biotics are the foods that benefit the bugs that benefit you. Simple.

What else? When probiotics and prebiotics are combined in a supplement (like this one), it’s called a SYN-biotic. As in SYN-ergy.

So what? The Real Thing PRO-Probiotic is a synbiotic that contains nine strains of healthy bacteria and a probiotic yeast. More specifically it contains 20-billion colony forming units per dose – about 20 times more than the average probiotic. It also packs in chicory inulin and oligofructose prebiotics. PRO + PRE = SYN. Simple. 

WHAT’S A COLONY FORMING UNIT? It’s a measure of the number of live, viable microbials in something. And, clearly, you want lots of these in your probiotic supplement, if not in your soup. Most probiotics contain 100-million to 1-billion CFUs per dose. The Real Thing PRO-Probiotic contains 20-billion. Bingo.

HOW CAN PRO-PROBIOTIC HELP YOU?

Stress, prescription drugs, alcohol, a high-fat diet, too much red meat and too little dietary fibre can allow bad gut bacteria to overgrow and take over the gut. This can lead to digestive problems like infections, lactose intolerance, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, Candida and reduced absorption of nutrients. Unless you put more good guys in.

Here’s what good-guy bacteria can do…

INHIBIT BAD BACTERIA. They compete with unhealthy bacteria for binding sites and nutrients – some probiotics even lower the pH to inhibit bad microflora and produce bacteriocins, natural antibiotic substances against harmful bugs like Candida albicans, Salmonella, E coli and Staph aureus.

ANSWER ANTIBIOTICS. Antibiotics kill bacteria, but don’t know how to tell the good from the bad. This means they can upset the system and your stomach. Replacing the beneficial bacteria with a probiotic can help restore a healthy flora balance.

IMPROVE IMMUNITY. Good bacteria work with the immune system on multiple levels. They’re practically honorary members of the team. Here’s why…

Physical protection. Probiotic bacteria line the mouth, nose, oesophagus, lung cavity and digestive and urinary systems. They form a physical barrier between bad bacteria and the bloodstream. Like a living layer of Clingfilm. 

More immune cells. Research has shown that probiotics help increase the number of T and B lymphocytes produced to fight the body’s battles.

More immune activity. They stimulate cells to produce antibodies against foreign invaders and immune messenger proteins called cytokines that help coordinate the immune response.  

More killer cell activity. Probiotics don’t just stimulate T-cells and B-cells to do their thing. They also push other immune cells, like macrophages and natural killer cells, to do theirs – namely to attack, engulf and swallow harmful microorganisms and toxins. It’s called phagocytosis, which means “cell eating”. And probiotics get cells eating more.

ENHANCE NUTRITION. More good bacteria in the gut promote the absorption of nutrients from food – especially minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. They also produce nutrients themselves, including B vitamins, folic acid, and antioxidants like vitamin K.

DID YOU KNOW?

Our forefathers received their daily food on an annual basis from at least 500 plants and also, as the food they ate were often stored in the soil, a rich supply of numerous micro-organisms. Modern day food is based on a small number of nutrients, 80 % of which come from only 17 plants and 50% of our calories come from only 8 grains! Also, modern food often goes through extensive processing, growth enhancement, separation, condensing, drying, freezing, irradiation, burning, microwaving, heating, cooking and adding of various non-nutritious and (potentially harmful) ingredients. These all change the nature of our food which has a negative impact on human health, including deranging the immune system. Put this together with the use of numerous pharmaceutical drugs e.g. antibiotics that further suppress immune function, we have a recipe for on-going sub-optimal or poor health. Too many of us have lost the ability to maintain proper colonisation of the bowel flora.

STRENGTHENS THE GUT BARRIER. The gut flora ensures proper mucous secretion which provides an obstacle to the absorption of pathogenic substances. Some bacteria actually strengthen the intestinal structure and are involved in tissue and cell development. An increase in Bifidobacteria induced by nutritional supplements is correlated with an improved gut barrier. A dysfunctional gut barrier function is associated with digestive difficulties such as leaky gut syndrome and lactose intolerance.

IN A NUTSHELL

PRO-Probiotic helps provide us with more nutrients than we receive from the food we do eat, helps protect against invading organisms and helps strengthen our gut barrier so that these organisms don't get into our blood stream. 

ESSENTIAL WITH ANTIBIOTICS. A 2008 study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York concluded that the right dose of probiotics will prevent antibiotic-induced diarrhoea. What’s the right dose? More than 5-billion colony-forming units per day for children, and more than 10-billion colony-forming units per day for adults.