Foods To Help Increase Fertility: Salmon
Salmon is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids which studies indicate may play an important part in egg maturation and embryo implantation both key processes in reproduction. With fish, theres always the risk of exposure to contaminants such as mercury that would counteract any fertility benefits, so be selective in the source and opt for fresh, wild-caught salmon where possible.
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Benefit #: Decrease Antibiotic Resistance
According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. This resistance is spurred by the overprescription of antibiotics, lack of diversity with those medications, and improper use of antibiotics .
As discussed earlier, probiotics can help rebuild healthy gut bacteria populations after a course of antibiotics, as well as prevent and treat unpleasant digestive issues related to antibiotic use.
And according to a study published in the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology in 2006, probiotics may even be able to replace antibiotics, whose side effects are unwelcome and whose efficacy is diminishing due to drug resistance.
How To Purchase And Care For A Probiotic Product
Gail Czarnecki-Maulden, Ph.d., a senior research nutritionist for Nestle Purina and one of the developers of FortiFlora, says that the big problem with these products is that they are delicate living things. When you look at a probiotic, you are looking at live bacteria that have been adapted to living within the GI tract, she explains in a Canine Health Foundation podcast. Exposure to air, moisture, or temperature extremes will damage their viability. Thats why some of these products are sold in individual serving packets. She also says that people should be mindful of temperature conditions when purchasing a probiotic product. You dont want to buy your probiotics when its 110 degrees outside and you go to the mall for four hours and your probiotics are sitting in a hot car for five or six hours. Its not likely that the probiotics will survive.
Also, there are a few things you should look for on a probiotic package label, for example:
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Prebiotics Benefits: What Do Prebiotics Do
Prebiotics nourish your gut microbiome, boost the growth of beneficial bacteria, and promote the production of health-promoting substances.
You probably already consume prebiotics without even realising it because they naturally occur in plant foods, and milk too. The most stable sources of prebiotics are specific types of dietary fibre because they are less sensitive to heat and age, compared to say, polyphenols, which are plant nutrients that can be affected by cooking.
However, just because many fibers are prebiotics doesnt mean that all fibre is prebiotic. Some insoluble fibers cant be broken down by gut microbes. Thats okay because they give mass and bulk to your stools, like psyllium husk and hemicellulose. They help you to have regular bowel movements, thus preventing constipation and abdominal discomfort.
The Benefits Of Probiotics Bacteria
In a society of anti-bacterial warfare, who would have thought that anyone would tout the benefits of bacteria? Living microorganisms found in yogurt and other cultured foods may help improve your body’s bacterial environment inside and out. They’re called probiotics, a name that means “for life.”
More and more people are using probiotic products to treat or improve illnesses or to maintain overall well-being. In fact, a 2017 report estimated annual global sales of probiotic supplements at $3.7 billion in 2016, and that is expected to rise to $17.4 billion by 2027.
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Should I Give Probiotics To My Kids
Probiotics can be beneficial for both adults and kids. If your child has an illness that requires an antibiotic medication for treatment, taking a probiotic can help shorten symptoms. Probiotics can also be used to help relieve constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea, gas and eczema in children.
Introducing probiotics into your childs diet through food is typically a safe way to give them probiotics. Foods like yogurt and cottage cheese are often part of a balanced diet and can add in good bacteria without much risk.
There are commercially available probiotic supplements specifically designed for infants and children. However, it is important to talk to your childs pediatrician before giving them any probiotic supplement or changing the childs diet to include probiotic-rich foods.
How To Get Probiotics
The two primary ways people ingest probiotics are by eating specific foods that contain beneficial bacteria or taking probiotic supplements. Given that different probiotic strains have different effects on the body, you need to do a little research, says Reid.
Make sure the food or supplement you plan to consume has the right stuff in it to address your health concerns. Reid recommends consulting USProbioticGuide.com, a useful tool that provides information about specific food products and supplements, the probiotic strains they contain, what the research shows regarding their efficacy for different health conditions and how to use the item.
Consumerlab.com is another great resource, as they test specific supplements for contaminants and dosing.
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De Kwaliteit Van Probiotica
Niet alle probiotica zijn hetzelfde. Ze kunnen variëren in potentie, stabiliteit en de voordelen die ze de mens bieden. Het is daarom cruciaal dat al het klinische onderzoek wordt gekoppeld aan een probioticum op stamniveau. Onze zorgvuldig geselecteerde leverancier steekt daarom veel tijd en geld in grote wetenschappelijke onderzoeksprogramma’s.
Question #: How Do Probiotics Work
The scientific discovery that led to the science of probiotics as we know it today began in the early 20th century, when Russian Nobel laureate Elie Metchnikoffsometimes affectionately called the father of probioticsmade the claim that consuming fermented foods containing certain kinds of bacterial microorganisms could improve peoples health. Metchnikoff theorized that health could be enhanced and senility delayed by manipulating the intestinal microbiome with host-friendly bacteria found in yogurt.
As researchers continued to explore that concept, they eventually began to use the term probiotics, which means for life, to describe those beneficial bacteria.
While we often think of bacteria as something harmful to avoid, our bodies naturally contain good bacteria in our digestive tracts that help us to absorb nutrients and to fight off infections. These bacteria are introduced into our systems at birth. While in the birth canal, babies are exposed to the bacteria of their mothers for the first time, which kicks off a series of reactions in the babys gut that culminate in the production of their own helpful bacteria.
Not all the bacteria found in our guts are good. According to the American Nutrition Association, a healthy, balanced ratio is about 85% good bacteria to 15% bad bacteria. When that ratio gets skewed, a condition called dysbiosis sets in. Symptoms of dysbiosis include:
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Benefit #: Protect Against Food Allergies
A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2001 highlighted a likely connection between intestinal microflora during infancy and the development of allergies.
Research published in the same journal in 1997 sheds some light on how probiotics might be used to rebalance gut flora and help to prevent the development of food allergies. The authors found that probiotics alleviate intestinal inflammation and promote endogenous barrier mechanisms.
And findings published in the European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2001 showed that probiotic bacteriotherapy can help to control the allergic inflammation associated with food allergy. This means that taking probiotics could allow people to reintroduce foods they had previously eliminated due to allergic reactions.
Plus, an article published in Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that pre- and probiotics can be especially effective when used jointly.
What Do Probiotics Look Like Under A Microscope
Bacteria can indeed be observed and counted with an inexpensive microscope. The difference between them and what they can offer while they may sound similar, and certainly operate in an . Ever wondered what probiotics look like under microscope? You will be able to see the bacteria even without using the stain. First i opened a probiotic capsule and dissolved it in pbs and .
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Optimising Sperm Count And Motility
Male infertility is estimated to contribute to 40-50% of infertile couples, and seminal fluid infections have shown direct effects on sperm count and motility. Recent research has suggested a strong correlation between seminal bacterial communities and semen quality, with researchers concluding Lactobacillus might not only be a potential probiotic for semen quality maintenance, but also might be helpful in countering the negative influence of Prevotella and Pseudomonas
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Irritable Or Inflammatory Bowel
review concluded that a multi-strain probiotic might improve IBS symptoms. The researchers called for further investigations into whether strains of Akkermansia, Bacteroides, and Faecalibacterium bacteria could play a role in future therapies.
A different 2019 found that probiotics did not consistently support the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, except possibly for one type of the disease: ulcerative colitis.
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Fertility Health Tip: Probiotics And Prebiotics
Eating a diet rich in a variety of whole foods is essential to healthy fertility. A whole food diet should include two uncommon components in foods: probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics and prebiotics help to digest and utilize food in the best way possible. Digestive health is a key pillar in the foundation for healthy fertility.
How is your digestive health? Did you know the human body cannot metabolize important phytoestrogens from plant foods and medicinal herbs, without adequate amounts of healthy intestinal flora? What is intestinal flora anyway and why is this important to fertility? We are going to explore all of these questions and you will be amazed at how important probiotics and prebiotics are to your fertility health.
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Where Do You Find Probiotics
Fermented or cultured dairy products are a major source of probiotics. Other sources of probiotics include
- miso
- buttermilk
- fermented milk.
The bacteria either occur naturally in these foods or have been added during preparation. Probiotics are also available as dietary supplements in capsule, tablet or powder-form.
Here are the most common strains of probiotics:
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Enterococcus faecium
- Saccharomyces boulardii.
Bifidus regularis, a name created for marketing purposes by Dannon, is also known as Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010. This strain of probiotics is used exclusively in Dannon’s popular Activia products, which Dannon claims promote regularity.
Keep in mind that in order for a yogurt to be considered probiotic, it must contain one of the strains listed above. All yogurts are required to be treated with the strains Lactobacillus bulgaricusand Streptococcus thermophilus.
Food marketers have found a new niche with probiotic-containing foods, which include
- Probiotic cereal
- infant formula.
However, their claims may be based only on preliminary scientific findings.
More research is needed to see whether probiotic bacterias’ beneficial effects are the same when they’re treated or added to food products. Dried probiotics may survive a trip through the intestines if prepared and stored properly. Heat often kills live active cultures.
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Probiotics Could Help Prevent Food Allergies
Probiotics may also help prevent food allergies, though more research is needed. For example, a review published in October 2015 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggested probiotics may help prevent eczema, which is a risk factor for food allergies, in children when administered to pregnant or breastfeeding mothers. Important to note, though, is infant eczema doesnt always signal a food allergy, and could simply be caused by dry skin or a seasonal allergy.
Benefit #: Lower Infant Mortality Rate
Probiotics may also be an effective means of treating necrotizing enterocolitis and neonatal sepsis, two diseases that can be extremely dangerous in newborns. Both conditions are most common in premature babies and the risk they pose increases as birth weight decreases.
Well-designed probiotics for women who are pregnant can make it less likely for babies to develop both NEC and sepsis, especially if the mother breastfeeds while continuing to supplement or if probiotics are added to infant formula.
According to research published in Advances in Nutrition in 2017, an international review journal, Probiotic consumption can significantly reduce the risk of developing medical complications associated with NEC and sepsis, reduce mortality and length of hospital stay, and promote weight gain.
A meta-analysis published in Pediatrics in 2012 recommended probiotics even more strongly. The results confirm the significant benefits of probiotic supplements in reducing death and disease in premature babies, the authors stated. Given the evidence already in existence, they concluded that additional placebo-controlled trials are unnecessary if a suitable probiotic product is available.
And the results of a randomized, controlled trial published in Nature, an international journal of science, in 2017 showed that the use of a synbiotic could effectively prevent many cases of , which results in one million infant deaths yearly, primarily in developing countries.
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What Does Gut Health Have To Do With Fertility
Your gut does much more than just digest, absorb, and excrete food. Your gut influences the health of every system in your body. Its responsible for the proper function of your immune system, how you think and feels, how you synthesize and excrete hormones, and it influences your fertility too. The bottom line is when your gut isnt functioning properly, other body systems suffer immensely.
That said, if youve been struggling with infertility, understanding and fixing the gut-fertility connection is ESSENTIAL. Moreover, if youve been dealing with unexplained infertility, it might be time to turn your attention to a very likely culprit your gut.
What Do Probiotics Do
Our bodies are home to a mix of good and bad bacteria. They’re pretty much everywhere the mouth, gut, and skin. Probiotics may help
- improve immune function
- protect against hostile bacteria to prevent infection
- improve digestion and absorption of food and nutrients.
Under normal or “balanced” conditions, friendly bacteria in the gut outnumber the unfriendly ones. Probiotics can act as gut-beneficial bacteria that create a physical barrier against unfriendly bacteria.
Probiotics can also help offset the bacterial imbalance caused by taking antibiotics. Antibiotics kill good bacteria along with the harmful ones, often leading to gas, cramping or diarrhea. Potential benefits of probiotics have been seen in the treatment or prevention of many conditions such as diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease.
Probiotics may help breakdown protein and fat in the digestive tract a valuable benefit to help infants, toddlers or patients who need to build strength throughout and after an illness.
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Can Probiotics Be Harmful
- Probiotics have an extensive history of apparently safe use, particularly in healthy people. However, few studies have looked at the safety of probiotics in detail, so thereâs a lack of solid information on the frequency and severity of side effects.
- The risk of harmful effects from probiotics is greater in people with severe illnesses or compromised immune systems. When probiotics are being considered for high-risk individuals, such as premature infants or seriously ill hospital patients, the potential risks of probiotics should be carefully weighed against their benefits.
- Possible harmful effects of probiotics include infections, production of harmful substances by the probiotic microorganisms, and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes from probiotic microorganisms to other microorganisms in the digestive tract.
- Some probiotic products have been reported to contain microorganisms other than those listed on the label. In some instances, these contaminants may pose serious health risks.
How Popular Are Probiotics
The 2012 National Health Interview Survey showed that about 4 million U.S. adults had used probiotics or prebiotics in the past 30 days. Among adults, probiotics or prebiotics were the third most commonly used dietary supplement other than vitamins and minerals. The use of probiotics by adults quadrupled between 2007 and 2012. The 2012 NHIS also showed that 300,000 children age 4 to 17 had used probiotics or prebiotics in the 30 days before the survey.
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Are There Any Storage Instructions For Probiotics
Several probiotic strains are very fragile and need to be protected from heat, oxygen, light and humidity. The probiotics might start to break down or die if they are exposed to these elements. Because of this, you may need to refrigerate your probiotics or store it in a particular place. Refrigerating certain probiotic strains ensures that theyre still viable when you go to use them and will still provide the full benefit of the probiotic. Always read the labels on any probiotic product you purchase to make sure you store it correctly and use it within the expiration date.
Correct Dosing Of Probiotics
When giving your dog probiotics, you need to ensure you are providing the right dose. This is dependent on the size and weight of your dog.
There is a label with the recommended dosage for most probiotics that you purchase specifically for your dog. If a full dose is too much for your dog, you can split the dose in half to provide at two different times in the day.
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Benefit #: Reduce Blood Pressure
Theres good information indicating probiotics can help you reduce your blood pressure. According to a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials, published in Hypertension in 2014, supplementing with probiotics can lead to reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. They also found that combining multiple strains results in a greater impact.
A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2013 looked specifically at the effect of probiotic fermented milk on blood pressure. The authors concluded that it was effective for both pre-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects.
Prior to that, in 2008 the International Journal of Molecular Sciences published an in-depth analysis of the way probiotics improve various health markers related to hypertension, such as lipid profiles, insulin sensitivity and resistance, the regulation of renin levels , and the conversion of bioactive phytoestrogens. The authors believe their findings indicate probiotics could be a preferable alternative to drugs and hormone therapy, since they have few or no side effects.