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Thanks partly to companies that market products like yoghurt, most people are aware that not all bacteria are harmful and that certain bacteria are so-called "good bacteria" that perform useful functions and contribute to overall good health.
Probiotics, as these bacteria are called, help with digestion. They also help keep the harmful bacteria in check so that, long as the harmful bacteria do not multiply excessively, we will not fall ill. These are the "helpful bacteria".
Yet the degree of their helpfulness and importance is seldom fully appreciated. Doctors, who ought to know better, do not think twice about prescribing powerful antibiotics to wipe them all out. They are more concerned about destroying the harmful bacteria even though these form the minority.
Pathogenic or disease-causing bacteria make up, at most, about 30 percent of the total bacteria in the body.The remaining 70 percent are good or helpful bacteria. When we take antibiotics, we destroy the 70 percent percent that is good, just in order to kill the 30 percent that is harmful.
What are you?
To fully appreciate the value of helpful bacteria, consider this question: What, exactly, are you?
If you think you are "human" you actually are only 10 percent right. The other 90 percent of you is bacteria. Your large intestines contain an estimated 100 trillion (one followed by 14 zeros) bacteria. In contrast, your body has only about 10 trillion ‘human’ cells. You have more bacteria cells than human cells. You are much more bacteria than human!
As we saw earlier, the majority of these are harmless, helpful bacteria. When you take antibiotics, you destroy more of the "good guys" than the "bad guys". This is like dropping a nuclear bomb to wipe out an entire city just to kill a few terrorists within. Antibiotics are the medical equivalent of weapons of mass destruction.
Still, such drastic measures may be justified if antibiotics do their jobs and achieve their objectives of helping us recover from illness. But do they? Increasingly, the answer is no.
As we read in the article on antibiotics, nowadays even the most powerful antibiotics have become ineffective against a new generation of "supergerms" that have grown drug-resistant. Likewise, a lot of viruses have become resistant to powerful anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza.
We also read in the article on natural antibiotics that products like garlic, propolis, olive leaf extract, tea tree oil, coconut oil, etc are effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as well as against viruses, yeast, protozoa and other micro-organisms. Plus, they don't kill the good bacteria that support life.
This brings us to being “pro-life”. Another way to fight harmful bacteria is to build up the “army” of good, helpful bacteria called probiotics.
Probiotics are found naturally in fermented foods like yoghurt, miso, soy sauce and pickled vegetables like kimchi and sauerkraut. Even wine and beer, provided they have not been pasteurised to destroy the bacteria, contain helpful bacteria.
Fermented foods form a small but important part of the diet of many traditional societies. And it is important to re-introduce this practice of taking small amounts of fermented foods - containing good bacteria - on a regular basis.
But watch the quality. Yoghurt drinks loaded with sugar, artificial colours and artificial flavours won't do you much good. Likewise, modern commercial pickles, made with artificial vinegar and containing artificial colours and preservaties, will cause more harm than good.
When you buy products like soy sauce and miso, make sure you buy those that have been naturally fermented - for at least a few months, up to several years. These might be found in health stores, or the health sections of the better supermarkets. Modern versions of soy sauce and miso made with factory shortcuts will not produce the same benefits. Beware, especially, of those made from soy products like soy protein, rather than real soy beans. These contain harmful substances.
You will also benefit from taking probiotics supplements, which are capsules containing live, helpful bacteria. Here, the numbers are important. Most probiotic supplements contain between 2 billion and 6 billion active live bacteria per capsule. It seems a lot. But it's nothing compared to the 100 trillion that you are supposed to have.
To fight an infection, you will need a great deal more – perhaps a few hundred billion bacteria two or three times a day. Ultra high potency probiotics, containing tens or hundreds of billions of good bacteria per capsule, are not commonly sold. But they are available. You just have to search harder.
The idea of taking bacteria to fight disease might seem strange. But remember, you are 90 percent bacteria. So you are better off supporting, rather than destroying, the life-supporting helpful bacteria in you. Because you are more bacteria than human!
Read here about how helpful bacteria can fight yeast infection.