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| Beware of those dreaded gut bugs |
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By SALLY RILEY CHRISTMAS is coming and so are all those eating festivities often starting in November because venues in December are booked out. All those special delicacies sitting around in overcrowded fridges. Raw egg mayonnaise, chicken, fish foods harbouring salmonella, camphylobacter or some other unheard of invisible harbinger which will produce inflammation, pain, bloating, wind and that wonderful word eructation. So should any of these most unwanted unpleasant phenomena come your way or threaten your existence take precautions. Take a probiotic. A capsule a day containing the good bugs Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. These are found in yoghurt but unfortunately don’t necessarily stay alive for very long in yoghurt. These days there are different species and strains for different gut conditions depending on the type and duration of what is often called dysbiosis. (Dysbiosis – a state of living with intestinal flora that has harmful effects.) The good bacteria will crowd out the baddies causing you so much distress. They are also needed after prolonged antibiotic use because antibiotics cannot distinguish between good and bad bacteria and fungal Candida (thrush) may take over and cause more strife. Probiotics need their own food prebiotics. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially effect health by stimulating the growth of the essential bacteria in the gut. These are found in such foods as onions, bananas, honey, garlic, leeks, artichoke, cereals, apples, and citrus peels. They are also found in the powdered bark of some medicinal herbs. Slippery elm (Ulmus fulva ) is such a herb. Slippery elm powder contains mucilage and mixed in water is very soothing for disturbed intestines as well as providing soluble fibre which reduces insulin by absorbing glucose, and it also supplies prebiotics. Ingestion of prebiotics may help prevent or treat colonic cancer, enhance calcium and magnesium absorption, and could help in the treatment of eczema and dermatitis in bottle fed babies. Of course we all know that fibre is essential for a healthy gut. Lots of fruit and vegetables to supply vitamins, minerals, prebiotics and fibre to keep everything on the move. The saying is: Weed: Eliminate the baddies Seed: Add the good bacteria-probiotics Feed: Take prebiotics to increase the natural good bacteria. Doses for herbs should always be checked with a professional health practitioner as therapeutic doses vary for each herb and some have cautions for certain health conditions. Sally is available on 0407 872 792 for consultation at the Midway Point Community Centre, Hoffmann St Tuesday or Thursday afternoons
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