November 04, 2013
November is officially “American Diabetes Month,” so-named to raise awareness of just how common this health problem is becoming. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of cases of diabetes rose by 100% or more in 18 states between the years 1995 to 2010. That’s a pretty disturbing increase, especially considering diabetes is a risk factor for other health problems including heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, visual problems and even the risk of certain types of cancer. The most common type of diabetes is type 2 diabetes and it’s strongly linked with obesity. The reason?.... [Read More...]
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October 28, 2013
Your digestive tract is not only responsible for breaking down and absorbing the food you eat – it also acts as a barrier against foreign substances, including undesirable bacteria. Most people are surprised to learn that 70% of their immune system lies in their intestinal tract – but this shouldn’t be surprising at all. After all, your digestive tract is one of the main entry points for harmful substances and bacteria. That means there has to be safeguards for making sure these undesirable microorganisms can’t take up residence in your gut or be absorbed into your blood stream. That’s where.... [Read More...]
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October 21, 2013
There is a growing appreciation for the health benefits of probiotics for both adults and children, but did you know that probiotics are also important for the health of our furry family members? Holistic veterinarians have been supporting their animal patients’ gastrointestinal health with probiotics for pets and livestock for years. As in humans, the gastrointestinal tract of an animal is home to a diverse population of beneficial bacteria that help maintain general health and wellness. The proper balance of healthy bacteria is very important to dogs, cats, livestock, and even birds. A pet with a healthy, well functioning.... [Read More...]
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October 14, 2013
Last week we highlighted the importance of having probiotics in your diet to create a healthy gut flora balance, and also ensuring that when you do consume probiotics, they count and deliver the benefits that you are expecting. We call these “functional foods”. A functional food is one that provides health benefits, not just nutritional benefits. Classic fermented functional foods such as sauerkraut, kefir and yogurt are often praised for their probiotic benefits, but many times they fall short of their potential – both from unhealthy additives, but also, because the type of bacteria strains within the product may not.... [Read More...]
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October 07, 2013
Probiotics are starting to get the widespread recognition they deserve as a functional part of a healthy diet, and like anything that gets consumer attention, a mass of commercial products have hit the market boasting probiotic benefits. But how effective are these products really? And do they deliver the benefits that they promise? Why the Emphasis on Probiotic Foods? For generations, the world has enjoyed a diet of “real food”. This has been unprocessed, naturally occurring goodness, some of which has included traditional fermented foods that are high in probiotics. Today, real food is hard to come by – processed.... [Read More...]
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September 30, 2013
If there’s one lifestyle habit that pays off with big returns – it’s exercise. Exercise improves cardiovascular health and reduces the risk for health problems ranging from type 2 diabetes to certain types of cancer. It also helps to preserve lean body mass and bone health as you age. Plus, it makes it easier to avoid another growing health problem – obesity. So why aren’t more people exercising? Sometimes the toughest part of an exercise program is simply starting, but once you start you’ll feel and see the difference. Are you ready to enjoy the health benefits of an active.... [Read More...]
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September 23, 2013
By KC Kahn – Blogger at The Kitchen Chopper Let me introduce you to a great healthy eating concept called The Chopped!
All Chopped “balanced meals in a bowl” start with a base of green veggie goodness. Kale, Arugula, Spinach, and/or Romaine are just the beginnings of the nutritious functional foods you can deliciously incorporate into your day! The Chopped is a “Full Balanced Meal in a Bowl”. I take all the components of a nutritious meal, chop them and bring them together with a delicious, homemade, healthful dressing that’s a delivery system of enormous antioxidant flavor. I suggest eating The Chopped.... [Read More...]
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September 16, 2013
Let’s face it. Constipation is an annoyance and an inconvenience. In fact, constipation is the most common complaint related to the digestive tract – and one that becomes more common with age. A number of lifestyle habits contribute to the problem of constipation – eating a low-fiber diet, not drinking enough water, medications and lack of physical activity – but there’s growing evidence that gut bacteria play a role too. What evidence is there that gut bacteria are linked with constipation? Some research shows that people with chronic constipation have a different composition of bacteria in their gut than people.... [Read More...]
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September 09, 2013
Each person ages at a different rate. We’ve all seen people who looked surprisingly youthful at an older age. How fast we age has something to do with genetics, but lifestyle is a big factor too. According to a new field called epigenetics, even if you have genes that predispose to aging more rapidly, lifestyle can reduce expression of these genes – so what you do or don’t do matters. Need some tips for staying healthy as you age? Get Moving It should come as no surprise that exercise tops the list of healthy aging tips. After the age of.... [Read More...]
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August 26, 2013
A significant percentage of the population experiences gastrointestinal symptoms that are severe enough to make their life unpleasant, symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation or abdominal cramping. Estimates are up to one out of five people are troubled by these symptoms. Some people experience them on a daily basis – at work, at home, at school, at social events and are inconvenienced and embarrassed by them. Many have sought medical attention and may have undergone a few x-rays or procedures to find out what’s wrong – and nothing was found. That’s the nature of functional bowel symptoms, you can’t always.... [Read More...]
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August 19, 2013
Back to school time means kids spend more time in close quarters with other kids where they’re exposed to the latest “flu” bug or virus that’s floating around. This adds up to an unhappy child, missed days from school, and missed work days for Mom or Dad. It’s impossible for kids to completely avoid exposure to infection-causing organisms, even if they wash their hands regularly and stay away from other children that are sick. Fortunately, kids have a natural defense against infection – a healthy immune system. What is immunity anyway? A child’s immune system consists of a complex network.... [Read More...]
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August 05, 2013
It’s summer, that great time of year when we bask in the sunshine and take some well-earned vacation in the sun. However, much as we love the sun, our friendly probiotic bacteria do not handle the transition to warm temperatures so well. We have often stressed the importance of keeping probiotics cool, ideally in a refrigerator. There is a good reason for this – heat kills most bacteria, and since probiotics are living bacteria, heat is not their friend. However, some probiotic manufacturers would have you think that their product does not need refrigeration, but the laws of biology apply.... [Read More...]
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July 29, 2013
It’s an intriguing idea that what lays in your gut influences how you feel and even how you think. Believe it or not your gut is embryologically related to your brain – meaning that from the very beginning, as the body is forming, the gut and brain have similar origins. Once they’re fully developed, they relay information back and forth, keeping the brain informed of what’s going on in the gut and vice versa. So complex are the nerve complexes in the gut that it’s sometimes referred to as the “second brain.” Doctors call this network of gut nerves the.... [Read More...]
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July 22, 2013
We are pleased to announce that world-recognized probiotics scientist and Natren founder, Natasha Trenev, will be a guest speaker at the Brain Solutions 2013 conference in Vancouver, BC. We asked Natasha why she is particularly excited about this conference – here is her response: “In the 1980’s Natren formulated a unique and powerful probiotic product, later producing it in a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical grade facility. My husband, Yordan Trenev, and I did this because we were convinced that probiotics are the most important health concept of the 21st century. Natren is an innovator whose mission is to provide unique and valuable.... [Read More...]
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July 15, 2013
When babies come into the world, their intestinal tract is free of bacteria. It’s at the time of delivery that a baby’s gut is first colonized with bacteria from the mom. A number of factors influence the type of bacteria that make their home in a newborn baby’s intestinal tract. One such factor is type of delivery. During a natural delivery, a baby is in contact with intestinal and vaginal flora from their mother, making direct colonization easier. During cesarean deliveries, the first contact a baby has with bacteria is not from mom but from the outside environment. This can.... [Read More...]
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July 08, 2013
Milk is a good source of calcium and protein but not all adults can tolerate milk and other dairy foods. That’s because they may have a common condition called lactose intolerance. What is lactose intolerance and why does it make it so hard to tolerate dairy foods? Lactose is a natural sugar in milk and dairy products. Lactose is two simple sugars, glucose and galactose linked together. To break down lactose into a form that can be absorbed by intestinal cells, you need ample quantities of an enzyme called lactase. Lactase is an enzyme secreted by cells in the small.... [Read More...]
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