Thursday, March 11, 2010

Gut health linked to excessive weight gain during pregnancy

People still don't know what probiotics are. We all know about antibiotics though. So what do those words mean? "Pro" means "for" or "in favor of" and "biotics" comes from "bios" meaning life. Of course we know what "anti" means. We usually take antibiotics when we have a bacterial infection, hence they are against life in order to kill the offending bacteria. On the other side of the coin we have our probiotics, something in favor of life. So what are probiotics? They are essentially "good bugs" that colonize your digestive tract and they're critically important to your health!

About 80% of the immune system is located in the GI tract! Did you know that? Probiotics play a huge role in immunity and detoxification of the body. They can be easily depleted due to taking antibiotics, drinking chlorinated water, stress, poor sleep and dietary habits, and environmental toxins.

Most people today must be on a good probiotic formula in order to recolonize the gut.

In this study pregnant women with good levels of beneficial probiotics gained less weight than those who did not. Those who gained more weight during pregnancy had higher levels of the E. coli, a bacteria abundantly present in feces.

Gut health linked to excessive weight gain during pregnancy

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