Manic Monday ~ Pre/Probiotic Health
After a long season of colds, influenzas, strep throats, sinus infections..... And I'm sure I'm missing something, it's about time warm weather shows up! I tell ya, when you house little toddlers and young school aged children, sickness is a "FOR-SURE" occurrence. Well, at least at my home. I have my children wash their hands CONSTANTLY. But, a minute after a good hand washing, I see a babe picking at their nose or grabbing a toy and chewing on it like a puppy would. The best ones are when we are in public and my youngest is hiding in a corner and eating skittles off the floor where someone spilled them. Or the time my 2 year old was seen trying to pull off all the stuck chewing gum from under a restaurant table. Who knows what happens when my back is turned! I mean just yesterday I laid my two year old down for a nap and when he fell asleep his clinched fists finally relaxed.... And in the middle of both hands were a ball of worms he had dug up with his big brother. Bless his heart!! Well, our last major cold virus hit our family in March. Of course, it was our two year old who picked it up from someone. If my toddler gets it, I usually get it. And it was so. I had a good old cold which did a dandy on my sinuses. An infection set in and I was miserable. A visit to my doctor led to two rounds of antibiotics. Ugggggg! I'm grateful for modern medicine, but I'm never thrilled about the downside of antibiotics. It's great that antibiotics can kill off the bad bacteria.....but it's terrible that the good bacteria goes too. We all need good bacteria for many reasons. One big reason is good gut flora. Without it, digestion is not optimal nor is nutrient absorption. And.... I don’t want to deal with that. That’s where probiotics & prebiotics come into play.
Probiotics are a great way to get back what antibiotics destroyed, as in getting back the “good stuff.” Of course, if this is new information to you, I suggest you do a little research to learn about these probiotics and the type of supplement that will work best for you. It takes time to build back up the good stuff in your body. I’m talking weeks and months of restoration. But it’s totally worth it and your health may just depend on it. Probiotics is another supplement that aids in this. The probiotics need to be fueled by prebiotics in order to really flourish... literally. Again, do your research on probiotics. In my experience, I used probiotics for 6 months with some good results, but it wasn’t until I added in prebiotics to the mix that I had even BETTER results.
Perhaps you have been on antibiotics in the past few years, or even have a diet that actually imbalances you to the point where the bad bacteria is overwhelming and the good bacteria is low.... you may just benefit from probiotics. Take a little time and do your research. There is a lot of information out there, but find credible resources and consider the possibility that probiotics might be something worth trying! I’m glad I did! Energy levels have returned as well as better digestion! We all could use that!
Have a GREAT week!
~Rachel Zimmerman
