Friendly Bacteria to the Rescue
An overgrowth of bad bacteria can quickly lead to diarrhea, ulcers, or more serious chronic conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Regain control of your gut by adding back the good guys. Probiotic supplements and foods with added probiotics, like Dannon’s cultured dairy drink, DanActive, contain live bacteria similar to the good ones that inhabit your gut. Adding them to your diet every day floods your intestines with beneficial bacteria that remain active in your digestive tract.
The benefits can be very real. For instance, if you suffer inflammation of the stomach, or an intestinal or urinary tract infection, maybe you should drink acidophilus milk right away — and every day. Often added to yogurt and milk, this friendly bacterium defends against gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach, intestinal infections from parasites, and even urinary tract infections, and it may ease the symptoms of diverticulitis and IBD by reducing intestinal inflammation.
Talk with your doctor to find out if probiotics could relieve your digestive problems. The biggest and perhaps only downside to probiotic therapy — you may have to take them indefinitely for long-term benefits. The payoff, however, may be well worth it.
- FC&A Staff Writer
