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Page 22
| Beneficial Bacteria |
| If you live in America, the odds are you have taken antibiotics. These powerful and overused drugs take a toll: In addition to their other side effects, they destroy the beneficial intestinal bacteria we are born with. Healthy intestinal microflora typically contains between 400 and 500 different species of bacteria, most of them in the colon. An important survival mechanism, these bacteria: |
| Produce enzymes |
| Improve digestion |
| Lower the risk of irritable bowel syndrome |
| Boost the immune system |
| Inhibit the growth of pathogens |
| Prevent diarrhea |
| Synthesize vitamins |
| Detoxify the body, and |
| Protect against toxins. |
| Because antibiotics destroy beneficial as well as harmful bacteria, antibiotic treatment often brings gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, incomplete digestion, a susceptibility to yeast or fungal infections and lowered immunity. |
| To invite beneficial bacteria back into your system: |
| 1. Buy acidophilus powders or supplements from your health food store's refrigerator (look for amber glass jars with distant expiration dates) and sprinkle it on food or take before breakfast, when stomach acid is less concentrated, or just after a meal, when food acts |
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