1. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health Amanda Plummer

2. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health  Bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms that compose your body’s micro flora play a major role in your health, both mental and physical

3. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health  The gut microbiota contains a vast number of microorganisms from all three domains of life, bacteria archaea fungi, as well as viruses.

4. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health

5. Several features of the modern lifestyle directly contribute to unhealthy gut flora: Antibiotics, medications Diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods Diets low in fermentable fibers Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut Chronic stress Chronic infections

6. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health The most obvious first step in maintaining a healthy gut is to avoid all of the things I listed above that destroy gut flora and damage the intestinal barrier. But of course that’s not always possible, especially in the case of chronic stress and infections. Nor did we have any control over whether we were breast-fed or whether our mothers had healthy guts when they gave birth to us.

7. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health Probiotic bacteria have many more functions than digestion. They trigger immune system reactions throughout the body, including activating T-cells.

8. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health Probiotics are an effective treatment for: Diarrhea Lactose intolerance Irritable bowel syndrome vaginal yeast infections Oral thrush Crohn's disease Ulcerative colitis

9. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health

10.  Dosage: Probiotics can contain anywhere from one to 10 billion colony-forming units or CFUs. To maintain microorganism balance, take a probiotic of one to two million CFUs daily or every other day. To correct a problem, probiotics containing 10 million CFUs can be taken daily for up to two weeks.

11. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health  Common side effects : Gas or a feeling of bloating. Some abdominal tenderness or pain. If this happens, stop taking them, then begin reintroducing them into your system again in smaller doses and work up to the point where they start giving you problems

12. The Probiotic The Importance of gut Health Reference: Chris Kresser. (n.d.). Retrieved 9 21, 2014, from Heal Your Gut: http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect- health-5-heal-your-gut 10 reasons to take a probiotic daily. (2012, 10 7). Retrieved 9 23, 2014, from Natural News: http://www.naturalnews.com/036419_probiotics_im munity_bacteria.html http://www.naturalnews.com/036419_probiotics_im munity_bacteria.html Andrew Weil, M. (n.d.). Vitamin Library. Retrieved 9 23, 2014, from Probiotics: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03052/Probiotics.h tml