Tag: Children

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10 Medically Compelling Benefits for Probiotics

What Are Probiotics?

First of all, probiotics are friendly
and useful microorganism of different varieties that live in the digestive system that enhance digestion and
helps to absorb nutrients at optimal
levels.

Our gut has a favourable environment for probiotics, mainly these microorganisms
are bacteria and fungi and are collectively known as the microbiome. These probiotics are harmless and provides
plenty of health benefits for us. Probiotics and good bacteria do not only live
in your gut, but there is plenty of probiotics living on the surface of your skin.

Types of probiotics?

Probiotics are classified according
to their type and benefits they deliver. Here are the most common types of probiotics.

·        
Lactobacillus.
–Most common bacteria and you find this easily in
yoghurt and all forms of the fermented food. Lactobacillus mainly helps in cases of AID
(Antibiotic Induced Diarrhea) and in people who cannot digest lactose (sugar
part in milk) – lactose intolerant.

·        
Bifidobacterium – It is also a commonly found bacteria in dairy products like
yoghurt and cheese. It is famous for its clinically proven effects in easing
the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

·        
Saccharomyces boulardii – it is a type of fungi, (yeast
variety) helps in diarrhoea and other
digestive problems.

10 Primary Benefits of Probiotics
Use.

1.      It restores the balance of the friendly bacteria in the gut

Bacterial imbalance in
the gut will happen due to the existence of more bad bacteria than good
bacteria. This occurs naturally as a result of
digestive diseases, poor diet or antibiotics. Prebiotics restores this
balance if taken it outside in sufficient amounts. Simply from supplementation
or adequate amounts of fermented foods and dairy products.

2.      Probiotics can treat and help
prevention of diarrhoea

Use of probiotics has
been shown to directly reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated
diarrhoea by restoring the balance among
bacteria in the gut.

Furthermore, supplementation with probiotics slow down the effects of infectious diarrhoea, with best results demonstrated in
children. However, the effects of probiotics are dependent on the type and dosage
of probiotics used.

3.      Probiotics supplements can ease the
symptoms of digestive disorders

Digestive conditions like
inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s
disease have been shown to be well controlled by probiotics supplementation.

Specifically Lactobacillus
and Bifidobacterium strains have the ability to reduce and ease the symptoms
of these conditions with considerable efficacy.

4.      Probiotics can boost the immune system
of the body

Probiotics stimulate the
production of natural antibodies inside the body and prevent the activity of
harmful bacteria.

Furthermore, they also boost the T lymphocytes
and IgA-producing cells which are important in the prevention of mild respiratory infections like common cold and urinary
tract infections, especially among middle-aged women.

5.      Most importantly it can help to
reduce extra body weight and fat.

Probiotics have the
ability to absorb dietary fat inside the small intestine of the gut and assist in excretion through faecal matter.

Additionally, probiotics
supplementation or eating plenty of probiotic foods, increases the feeling of
fullness, which reduces the intake of other foods in-between main meals. It is
a cause of indirect weight loss through dietary control. However, some dietary products containing Lactobacillus
acidophilus can lead to weight gain
and you should be careful when choosing the best probiotics for your need.

6.      Can reduce the reoccurrence of
genital-urinary infections

Recurrence of urinary
conditions such as urinary infections (UTI), bacterial vaginosis, vaginal
infections, bladder cancers and bladder stones can be reduced by frequent
intake of probiotics.

Some of the best
probiotics can help prevent bad bacteria (pathogenic bacteria) from invading
the urinary tract by maintaining a population of healthy bacteria (Probiotics)
on the tract’s adherence sites.

7.      Probiotics may also have a special
role in maternal health

Pregnant women are
particularly susceptible to vaginal infections and probiotics have been
demonstrated to play a role in reducing the reoccurrence of these conditions.

And bacterial vaginosis
has been indicated as a contributing factor to pre-term labour, making probiotics a potential benefit for fetal health.

  1. Probiotics use can improve mental health conditions

There has been remarkable research and advances in use of probiotics to ameliorate
mental health conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, autism, memory loss
due to ageing and obsessive-compulsive
disorder.

This is a new upcoming area of medicine, where
use of probiotics and fecal transplants have demonstrated beneficial effects in
mental health conditions.

  1. Probiotic supplements help to
    improve heart health    .

Use of probiotics can reduce the LDL (bad cholesterol) in blood and help
in decreasing blood pressure.

Additionally, probiotics have been shown to break down bile in the gut
(biochemical fluid in gut helps in fat digestion) and prevent it from
reabsorbing into the bloodstream.

  1. Probiotics can reduce the chances of some allergic conditions and
    eczema    .

This
is more so especially in newborn infants
and children below 5 years. It is also beneficial for eczema in pre-pregnant
mother and locating mothers.  Furthermore, probiotics reduce the inflammatory
responses triggered by milk and dairy product allergies. 

Visit for www.velobiotics.com for more information. 

Article available @https://goo.gl/Uvib1o

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Probiotics – Why Settle for less? Get 1000x more!

Probiotics undoubtedly have become a primary area of wellness interest among the public and medical fraternity alike. There is overwhelming information, discoveries and innovations brought to light each and every day, both good and bad.

Whilst most of the progress is positive, I’m totally bewildered by the fact that we do not get probiotics’ benefit simply because they do not reach our guts!

Yes, less than 4% of probiotics taken orally ever reach our guts, where they are most useful! That’s crazy waste of money, time and worst of all, health benefits that accrue from probiotics use.

Ok. Let’s start from the beginning.

What are Probiotics?

According to WHO[1], Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer health benefits to the host. This includes the following primary benefits:

  1. Inhibition of pathogenic growth
  2. Maintenance of health promoting gut microflora
  3. Stimulation of immune system
  4. Relieving constipation, absorption of calcium, synthesis of vitamins and antimicrobial agents, and predigestion of proteins [2]

Several health benefits have been proved for specific probiotic bacteria, and recommendations for probiotic use to promote health have been published widely.

Year after year, probiotics continue to gain popularity and increased use by clinicians based on evidence and perceived health benefits.

 

Challenges

According to FAO/WHO recommendations, for a Probiotics to declare claims of health benefits, it must contain a concentration of 106 to 107 CFU (Colony Forming Units) of Viable probiotics bacteria.

That is how much should be contained in the formulation at the point of purchase by the customer. However, this is not always true. Probiotic viability is affected right from processing, packaging and most importantly at the retailer’s shelf. Most manufacturers try to overcome this hurdle by over-compensating with excess colonies of the probiotics. It is no surprise to find 100x excess of the label claim at manufacture, with presumption that gradual deterioration over the products’ shelf-life will result in residual amount that corresponds to the label.

The main challenges facing the probiotics currently can be largely be divided into two:

1. ) Probiotics’ Shelf-Life 

The viability of probiotics under room temperatures has been a matter of concern in the industry.

Most probiotics products take time from 2 months to 18 months on the pharmacy shelf before they can get to the final consumer.

There is gradual deterioration and loss of bacteria during this period due to storage, oxidation and other stress that impacts on the live bacteria.

2. ) Tolerance of Stomach Acid and Bile

Most probiotics do not seem to transiently survive the harsh acidity in the stomach.

At a pH below 2, most probiotics are destroyed alongside other pathogenic bacteria taken orally. This is undoubtedly body’s first line of defense against pathogens eaten alongside food or drinks and probiotics are no exception.

Lactobacilli spp. Of probiotics has been shown to only survive between 30 seconds to several minutes under these conditions.

Previously, different ways of overcoming these challenges have been attempted with varying degrees of success. Most solutions have not delivered optimal and effective ways due to a host of factors:

  1. Most techniques used have led to high stress and degradation of the live bacteria, resulting to low survival rate and reduced load upon processing.
  2. The use of various microencapsulation materials lead to unstable and sometimes non viable micro-capsules without any protection of the organism
  3. Formulations and innovations around gastric or enteric coating (enteric coated capsules) have resulted into the coating not ‘opening’ or dissolving in the GI system and thus not releasing the probiotics at all.

Velobiotics™ – What is different?

May 2018, will see the launch of Velobiotics™ range of products in the market, with the primary aim of overcoming these two primary challenges facing probiotics.

Velobiotics™ is a novel and patented technology that helps micro-protect probiotics thus increasing viability and efficacy when ingested. The technology utilizes Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (SCO2) in which two hydrophilic polymers interact to form an interpolymer complex, that ‘hides’ or ‘shields’ the probiotics at a microscopic level.

Through research carried out on various probiotics, the SCO2 technology was shown deliver up to 1000x more probiotics to your gut than non-encapsulated probiotics. This was achieved by increasing the shelf-life of the probiotics as well as safe transit through the stomach acid into the gut.

For the VERY FIRST TIME, this has led to probiotics being included in ready-to-eat powder preparations, sports supplements and meal replacements!

Why Settle for Less?

With Velobiotics™, that’s the question that we’re aiming to answer and provide solutions that makes everyone access the full benefits of probiotics.

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From meal replacements providing nutritional support for recovery, to sports supplements, Velobiotics™ delivers 1000x more probiotics than non-encapsulated probiotics. From as much as 10 Billion CFU per meal serving (Femina™ with Cranberry) to 16Billion CFU per capsule (Ultima16™) there is absolutely no reason, why you should settle for less.

 

[1] FAO/WHO. Probiotics in Food.Health and Nutritional Properties and Guidelines for Evaluation, FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 85World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome; 2006
[2] J. Rafter, 2003Probiotics and colon cancer. Best Pract. Res. Clin. Gastroenterol. 17849859

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Children & Phases of Picky Eating

Most babies love rice cereal right away because it has a very mild taste that is similar to formula and breast milk. When you are ready to move to pureed fruits and vegetables, anticipate that your baby will need some time to get used to the tastes. Try feeding him each fruit or vegetable at least three or four times before assuming that he doesn’t like it.

Toddlers

Toddlers are notoriously picky. If your toddler turns down a new food, it might be because it is too mature for her taste or simply because she is in the mood to say no. When it is time to introduce a new food to your toddler, give her choices to promote her independence. Offer a choice of carrot sticks or peppers, vegetable soup or applesauce, chicken or fish. Toddlers also love to feel grown up by imitating the adults or older siblings in their lives, so eating something healthy yourself is a wonderful way to get her to eat healthy.

Young Children

Young children tend to eat only when they are hungry. Don’t be worried if your child eats an adult-sized meal one night and barely touches his plate the next. Look at his nutrition over the week as a whole rather than each day. Young children might also be picky if they are not used to certain foods since they thrive on the familiar. Package new foods in appealing ways, such as putting chicken on kebob skewers, wrapping vegetables in a large lettuce leaf or blending fruits into a milkshake.

Older Children

Older children are more aware of social pressure than young children and might choose to eat or not eat certain foods based on what their friends are doing. At this stage, her sense of taste is also more developed and it will be harder to introduce a food that she has never eaten before. Sneak vegetables into your menu by adding sweet potatoes to a blended soup, mushrooms to a lasagne or serving meatballs over spaghetti squash instead of regular spaghetti. Ask your child to plan the menu with you: the sense of pride she feels for the meals will give her added incentive to eat what you serve.