Necessary For Everyone
Colonies of "friendly" bacteria must live in the colon for it to function properly. Without these beneficial bacteria, we are more susceptible to harmful yeasts, intestinal toxemia, dangerous bacteria, viruses, and a wide spectrum of other problems. Why? Because without the good bacteria to eat up the toxic waste from food that has not been completely digested and eliminated, the toxins and undigested food particles can enter the blood stream and cause the immune system to work overtime. These substances are treated as foreign invaders that must be either converted into something usable or removed from the body. Over time this can weaken the immune system so that it is unable to handle serious inflections and diseases.
The toxins produced from this waste material can spread throughout your body, literally poisoning you. Your "starved" and poisoned organs and systems can become stressed and eventually weaken to the point where they fail to function properly. This is why so many researchers now believe that "death begins in the colon."
Unfortunately, the friendly bacteria that should populate our colons are constantly under attack by an increasingly diverse array of enemies. These include the all-too-common enemies of chlorinated water, the antibiotics some people take for illness, antibiotics we ingest in meat, processed food products we consume, alcoholic beverages, some chemicals, as well as radiation and chemotherapy.
These "friendly" intestinal bacteria used to be passed naturally from mother to infant. Unfortunately, over the past half-century, in our haste to kill all bacteria, we have also killed the good with the bad. That's why it is so important to regularly reintroduce good bacteria into our intestinal tracts to ensure we keep them healthy. Additional supplementation may also be necessary immediately following use of antibiotics or other treatments aimed at killing bacteria or viruses.
Health Benefits
These good bacteria are called "Probiotic". The first three letters, "Pro", mean for and the balance of the word - "Biotic", means life. So a Probiotic bacteria is for life, or pro-life. These important friendly bacteria work primarily in the large intestine, but are present in the rest of the digestive tract as well.
Basically, there are two groups of naturally occurring micro-organisms functioning in the digestive system. The first group is considered beneficial or non-pathogenic, and is actually made up of several hundred different kinds of friendly bacteria. The second group is the potentially pathogenic group, including again hundreds of possible bad guys like E. Coli and Salmonella.
Probiotic bacteria work by competitive exclusion. This means that the greater number of different species of friendly-intestinal bacteria that are present in the probiotic compound, the harder it is for the competing bad bacteria and yeasts to get started. The good bacteria clean out the intestinal tract of waste products from food digestion as well as drive out the bad bacteria. This, of course, leads to better digestion and utilization of the food we eat and elimination of pockets of bad bacteria, that are present in many people's intestines, thus contributing significantly to overall good health. It is estimated that over 400 species of bacteria inhabit the human digestive tract.
Inner Garden Flora
Inner Garden Flora™ is a combination of eleven carefully chosen bacteria that can help to maintain the proper balance of bacteria to your intestines while helping the other friendly bacteria survive and flourish. It is excellent for people of all ages, regardless of health. Inner Garden Flora can also be helpful while you are traveling. (Children need proportionately smaller amounts of this supplement.)
