Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Have You Tried Probiotics?
I've been aware of probiotics for a few years. The health food store near my house sells acidopholus. I would read the bottles and then decide that injesting live bacteria was too weird for me.
My stomach was have it's usual menstrual eruptions in October. I had heard that some probiotics can help your digestion. I decided to do some research to see if they might help me.
I learned from Dr. John McDougall's website that we have all these bacteria in our digestive tract. They help us digest our food. When we feed them certain things like leafy greens they grow and prosper. When we have diarrhea, take anti-biotics, get sick, etc., those good bacteria die off. Then we have stomach woes.
I decided to take the plunge. It was very difficult finding dairy free probiotics. I finally settle on taking acidopholus as it was the only thing I could find that was dairy free.
I talked to others and was told to not expect immediate results. I started with one capsule a day. I didn't have any side effects so I upped it to two capsules a day.
When my first menstrual period rolled around three weeks later, I was curious to see what would happen. I had my usual digestive eruption. Normally, I have a really bad day, then spend three or four days feeling yucky. I had the bad day, but by the evening of the next day, I felt perfectly fine. In the next menstrual cycle, I noticed the same thing.
Was it the probiotic? I'm not ready to give the verdict. I'll let a couple cycles go by before I pass judgement. It's very promising though!
Since then, I switched to Natrol's acidopholus complex. This has several live bacteria strains. I'll be curious to see if I notice any difference. I know I've wreaked havoc on my digestive tract for the last 20 years. It's nice to give it something that will help it do it's work.
My stomach was have it's usual menstrual eruptions in October. I had heard that some probiotics can help your digestion. I decided to do some research to see if they might help me.
I learned from Dr. John McDougall's website that we have all these bacteria in our digestive tract. They help us digest our food. When we feed them certain things like leafy greens they grow and prosper. When we have diarrhea, take anti-biotics, get sick, etc., those good bacteria die off. Then we have stomach woes.
I decided to take the plunge. It was very difficult finding dairy free probiotics. I finally settle on taking acidopholus as it was the only thing I could find that was dairy free.
I talked to others and was told to not expect immediate results. I started with one capsule a day. I didn't have any side effects so I upped it to two capsules a day.
When my first menstrual period rolled around three weeks later, I was curious to see what would happen. I had my usual digestive eruption. Normally, I have a really bad day, then spend three or four days feeling yucky. I had the bad day, but by the evening of the next day, I felt perfectly fine. In the next menstrual cycle, I noticed the same thing.
Was it the probiotic? I'm not ready to give the verdict. I'll let a couple cycles go by before I pass judgement. It's very promising though!
Since then, I switched to Natrol's acidopholus complex. This has several live bacteria strains. I'll be curious to see if I notice any difference. I know I've wreaked havoc on my digestive tract for the last 20 years. It's nice to give it something that will help it do it's work.
