3. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

In the intestinal tract, there are many highly beneficial bacteria that serve various purposes. For example, one reason some people don’t get sick when they eat spoiled food is that their intestinal tract is full of highly beneficial bacteria like acidophilus and bifodobacteria. Because of these healthy bacteria, the "bad" bacteria in spoiled food do not have room to multiply to the degree that they make that person sick.

Antibiotics: A Real Killer

These "friendly" bacteria are actually a vital part of our immune system. They play a critical role in breaking down food so that we can fully absorb the nutrients in the food we eat. Unfortunately, these "good guys" are wiped out by the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics. While it’s true that antibiotics can virtually be a lifesaver in acute infections, modern medicine tends to overuse broad-spectrum antibiotics as a "catch all" or "quick fix," which wreaks havoc on the digestive and immune systems, and also creates an opportunity for "superbugs" to develop (bacteria that mutate and become highly resistant to any antibiotic treatment).

Broad-spectrum antibiotics kill bacteria without prejudice, meaning that they wipe out both the "good" bacteria and the "bad" bacteria in our bodies. The good bacteria, known as probiotics (acidophilus and bifodobacteria being two of the more common strains), are essential for optimal digestion and well-being. For those people who have overused antibiotics at any point in their lives, they generally have a severe imbalance of intestinal flora. That’s because the good bacteria are wiped out, and they never get replenished.

The Standard American Diet is sadly deficient in probiotics, and so we never get an opportunity to ingest enough good bacteria to keep all the bad bacteria at bay. The bad bacteria found in our food and environment multiply unchecked in our digestive tract.

In order to restore a healthy balance in the digestive tract, it is essential to continually restore the body’s supply of probiotics. Some researchers estimate as many as 70 trillion bacteria live in our intestines. If you have a high percentage of bad bugs, adding just a few billion good bugs into this hostile environment will have very little effect. Anyone who has serious gut problems typically needs between 100 billion and 400 billion probiotics per day.


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Article ID: 475