Probiotics

The Best Intestinal Bacteria For Optimum Health
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What are Probiotics?

Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that live in your digestive tract. Your digestive tract is home to more than 500 different species of bacteria; ideally 80% are good bacteria and 20% are bad bacteria. There are literally trillions of individual bacteria residing in the digestive tract, with the majority of the population living in the large intestine. The two most prevalent probiotics are Lactobacilli, which make up the majority of the probiotics living in your small intestine, and Bifidobacteria, the most prevalent probiotic living in your large intestine.

What Are The Benefits Of Probiotics?

Probiotics play an important role in human health. The World Health Organization defines probiotics as “live micro-organisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host” (that’s you). Literally translated, the word probiotic means “For Life”. Maintaining a healthy balance of probiotics is critical to your overall health, not only your digestive health.

• Promote healthy immunity
• Help maintain healthy colon cells
• Help promote regularity
• Help manufacture vitamins, such as B and K
• Help manufacture some digestive enzymes that help the body digest food
• Help make use of nutrients, such as fibre, that would otherwise pass through the body undigested
• Create an unfriendly environment for potentially harmful bacteria and yeast

Your Bacterial Balance Is The Key To Your Good Health

You have both good and bad bacteria in your digestive system. A healthy bacterial balance is 80% good to 20% bad bacteria. When the amount of bad bacteria increases past 20%, your health can suffer. Why? Well, for starters, did you know that 70% of your immune system is located in your digestive tract? A healthy supply of good bacteria is critical to supporting immunity. An overgrowth of bad bacteria could suppress or overload the immune system. Keeping your bacteria in balance is essential to maintaining your overall health.

How Do You Keep Your Bacteria In Balance?

First of all, you know that every day you ingest harmful bacteria, from the bacteria under your fingernails to the bacteria on your “clean” forks in the kitchen drawer. Unfortunately, bad bacteria are in your home, your office, your car, and at the gym. It’s just a fact of life. The key to good health is to make sure that you have enough good bacteria (80%). You receive good bacteria through your diet. Fermented dairy and vegetable foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut are all high in good bacteria. If you want to increase the good bacteria in your digestive system, eat those foods and, most importantly, eat a high-fibre diet (25 grams or more per day). Why? Because good bacteria love to eat soluble fibre. When they eat soluble fibre, they multiply. When they multiply, they can crowd out the bad bacteria and maintain the proper balance. You can also support your bacterial balance by taking high-potency probiotic supplements that are formulated with the right balance of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria.

3 Steps To Maintaining The Right Bacterial Balance

1. Eat fermented foods.
2. Eat plenty of fibre.
3. Take high-potency probiotic supplements with the right amount and proper ratio of Bifidobacteria to Lactobacilli.

A diet that doesn’t include the foods rich in probiotics can cause imbalance. Other causes are a low fibre diet and the consumption of antibiotics. When you take antibiotics you kill both good and bad bacteria but not yeasts which can occupy the space left behind. This is why we recommend taking probiotics after a course of antibiotics to redress the imbalance causes. Antibiotics are powerful tools for using against infection but one should be aware of the wider impact of these products. Be aware you need good bacteria to resist the growth of bad bacteria. Many bad bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and hence may thrive at the expense of the good. Also modern farming practices often use antibiotics in the feed of farm animals.  Chlorinated tap water, antibacterial soaps, food preservatives, contraceptive pills, steroids, stress can all affect bacterial levels.

Too little good bacteria can lead to diarrhoea, constipation, excessive flatulence, yeast overgrowth, vaginal yeast infections, a weakened immune system, lactose intolerance, poor digestion, complex carbohydrate intolerance and off course skin disruptions. As we said 70% of your immune system lies in the digestive tract and a lack of adequate amounts of probiotics can result in many problems related to low immunity, which can have a knock on affect on hormonal balance which might be enough to exacerbate skin conditions

The Critical Importance of Lactobacilli & Bifidobacteria

In a healthy intestinal tract, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria make up the majority of the trillions of bacterial cells residing there. Bifidobacteria alone comprise up to 25% of the total probiotics in a healthy adult and an even larger ratio in a healthy child. The intestinal tract is comprised of 2 major sections: the small intestine and the large intestine. The probiotic species of the small intestine differs from the large intestine.

Small Intestine: Lactobacilli

In a healthy small intestine, the most prevalent probiotics are Lactobacilli. Lactobacilli help to: regulate the immune system; digest nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and milk sugar; and produce compounds and acids that create an unfriendly environment for potentially harmful bacteria (which are always present and fighting for more space). Lactobacilli are also the most prevalent probiotic in the vagina, where they create acidic compounds that help to keep other organisms in minimal numbers.

Large Intestine: Bifidobacteria

In a healthy large intestine, the most prevalent probiotics are Bifidobacteria. Because the large intestine has less constant movement than the small intestine, it is easier for potentially harmful bacteria to take up residence here and multiply. Bifidobacteria are your major line of defence against bad bacteria in the large intestine. They fight bad bacteria with their sheer numbers. They also produce acidic compounds that help reduce bad bacteria’s ability to multiply. Bifidobacteria also ferment soluble fibre; a dietary substance that would otherwise be useless to the human body without the help of bacteria. Bifidobacteria ferment soluble fibre and produce compounds including short chain fatty acids, vitamin B and vitamin K. Unfortunately, as important as Bifidobacteria are in maintaining the health of the large intestine and protecting us from harmful bacteria, studies show that the population of Bifidobacteria in our gut declines with age. Many researchers are exploring the link between the decline of Bifidobacteria and the effects of aging.

There are several critical, yet simple, factors to consider when choosing the right probiotic supplement. First, you should always look for high-potency formulas with significant amounts of both Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli when selecting a daily maintenance probiotic. These are the two primary probiotics in your digestive system. A high Bifidobacteria count is hard to find, and that is why Brenda Watson, C.N.C., formulated the Ultimate Flora line of probiotics. The second factor is your age. As we age, our probiotic population decreases. Choose a daily maintenance probiotic that is age-appropriate. The older you are, the more probiotics you need. Make sure that the probiotic you choose is either enteric-coated or delivered through BIO-Tract^TM tableting. Both of these methods ensure that the probiotics in the capsule or tablet pass through the stomach and are delivered to the small and large intestines where they are needed most. If you have a particularly troublesome upper digestive tract, select a probiotic that includes glutamine, the amino acid that is the fuel for intestinal cells. Lastly, if you are travelling, be sure to choose a probiotic that is shelf-stable.

Choosing the Right Probiotic

One should look for the right balance ofBifidobacteria and Lactobacillus. High Bifidobacteria probiotics are rare. If taking a probiotic due to a chronic conditions or after say antibiotics make sure it is a very high strength one. Our probiotics are available in enterically coated capsule form and we offer a different level and a different mix of probiotic bacteria per capsule. It is essential for optimal health to maintain a good balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut. This balance is often upset by antibiotics, pharmaceutical drugs, stress and poor diet.

• For Chronic problems such as Candida overload and following antibiotics we have high strength: Ultimate Flora® Critical Care 50 billion.


• For maintenance and ongoing gastro support we offer
  Ultimate Flora® Adult 15 billion.


• For daily maintenance of the gut for people over the age of 50, we offer
  Ultimate Flora® Senior 30 billion.


• We also have Ultimate Flora® Vaginal and Urinary Tract Support 50 billion especially for women.

The right probiotic individually tailored to meet your need.

Ultimate Flora® contains five superior strains of freeze-dried probiotic micro organisms, with a minimum total bacterial count of 25 billion per capsule guaranteed at date of expiry, which is usually one year after manufacture. These strains are L. Acidophilus, L.Rhamnosus, L. Plantarum, B. Longum and B. Bifidum, and are most specifically helpful to the small and large intestines. We feel that a probiotic supplement should have a high bacterial count and a blend of different genera. The latest independent laboratory test results indicate around 70 billion total bacterial count per capsule. This count is much higher than claimed to be found in most probiotic products on the market today.

These high-strength probiotics have been independently trialled by the Candida Society. All subjects were impressed by the quality of the product, and noticed considerable improvements in:

• Fatigue
• Abdominal pain
• Absorption of food
• Headaches
• Food intolerance
• Bowel movement
• Depression
• Bloating

No adverse reactions were noted and all wanted to continue using it beyond the trial period.