Not sure if you have stumbled across our latest probiotic Probulin blog (Probulin.wordpress.com), but here is a teaser of what we discuss on their 2-3 times a week…
If you’re anything like me, when you first walk into your neighborhood store, you’re reaching for the sanitary wipes and giving the cart a good rub-down before shopping. Nowadays, though, you might be combing the shelves of that same market in search of the right kind of friendly bacteria to get your hands on.
Lately, probiotics haven’t just caught the attention of the science community. There’s a growing market out there of consumers looking for ways to improve their quality of health. Corporate America has caught on and now you, the consumer, are rewarded with an assortment new products that will help you get the probiotics you need.
Products you may encounter include:
✓ Probiotic “shots”: Popular in other countries, these drinks are newly arrived in the United States, and contain a good, hearty dose of probiotics in each shot.
✓ Probiotic snacks: From buckwheat snacks to granola bars, keep an eye out for probiotic labels.
✓ Probiotic chocolate: Seriously, does it get better than this? Probiotic chocolate. . . chocolate that helps keep you healthy. Yep. I’m there.
✓ Kombucha: A tart and tangy beverage made from fermented tea, kombucha is a great vegan source of probiotics.
So, keep an eye out for these new products and load up your cart with the probiotics you need to keep healthy!
To your digestive health,
NutraCenter
This article was originally posted on our probiotics blog: Probulin.wordpress.com. It was written and posted there by our team previously.
While researching a health topic to write about this week, I came across an article last Sunday in the Jobs section of The New York Times: “Building a Bridge to a Lonely Colleague.” No this doesn’t have to do with supplements, but your mental health greatly affects your overall health… on the job attitude included.
Loneliness as termed by Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, has more than one definition:
“being without company,” or “cut off from others” (solitary)
“not frequented by human beings” (desolate)
“sad from being alone” (lonesome)
“producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation”
Now look at your work situation – do you work in a traditional work setting, in an office, other employees just a paper airplane flight away. Or are you a freelancer, stay-at-home Mom working part-time, or just someone who works “better” on their own?
In TNYT article by Phyllis Korkki, creating a bond with at least one fellow employee can make a world of difference not for the health of the individuals but also for the company as a whole.
Researchers found after studying 650 workers, individuals who felt lonely or perceived co-workers as feeling lonely, reduced productivity for both parties. As Korkki explained in the article, there are some key points to take away from this study:
Understand that loneliness is an emotion – it doesn’t do any good to ignore it but rather acknowledge it.
Even one close relationship with a co-worker can make all the difference, not only in feeling connected, but also in raising productivity levels.
Research is continuing on whether the feeling of loneliness is contagious, similar to happiness or anger.
Whether you work out of your home or in an actual office space, be sure to take the time to chat with your coworkers. Build that bond, get a boost of positive emotions, and make your employer happy. If you have any advice on how to fight loneliness in the workplace (or other), we’d love to hear it!
Like we’ve said before – education on health is our primary goal. Your optimal health is our greatest concern which is why we have decided to list our favorite educational items for your convenience. Please enjoy!
NutraCenter’s next generation in probiotics: Probulin is even mentioned in this book, along with 20 recipes so you can learn to cook with probiotics and prebiotics at home. Written by a board certified gastroenterologist.
Notice: you can preorder this as the book releases in May 2012
The first-ever probiotic video game is in the works and will be released summer 2012. There is a battle constantly going in your gut between good and bad bacteria, join in the game!
Another fun DVD that colorfully explains how to cook with prebiotics and probiotics in this 2 hour long film. Try it and make sauerkraut and kefir today.
Does RenewLife: The Digestive Care Company sound familiar? Brenda Watson is a certified nutritional consultant and provides insight into the digestive benefits of probiotics.
Discusses both probiotic food and supplements in this overview guide to good bacteria.
Perhaps this list will get you started on the right book in your research on probiotics. These are just our top favorites on the market (and ones that haven’t been released yet!) as we think we they will be helpful.
Do you have any other books or educational pieces on probiotics you’ve found useful? Comment below, we’d love to hear about it!
Totally cliche right? We do a blog about why supplements are good for you. Here’s the deal – they actually ARE beneficial. Let’s start off with the basics on how nutritional supplements can help you reach optimal health.
1. Do you get the recommended 5+ servings of fresh fruits and veggies each day? In American society, it’s not the easiest to include these in our diets between little time for meals and the abundance of fast food restaurants. Therefore, the likelihood of the average American being nutritionally deficient is higher than we’d like.
2. Similar to point 1, time can be very limited especially as technology makes life fly by faster and faster. Even 30 minutes of heart-pumping exercise a day is a great step towards living a healthy life – do you fit that in? Props to you if you have the motivation to get yourself in some tennis shoes. For those who do not, you’re losing out on working off any extra weight and reliving some stress, both of which can be detrimental to your health.
FACT: Walk just 30 minutes a day for 24 months and you will lose up to 25 pounds.
3. You may have read a misleading research study recently that stated women who take supplements were more likely to experience a heart attack – WRONG. If you start taking daily vitamins and supplements earlier in life (as opposed to closer to the age of menopause like the research subjects mentioned above) you ease into age easier.
4. Taking the right balance of supplements can help your body perform at it’s optimal levels – energy levels included. Supplements keep your blood sugar levels from rising or dropping quickly and they can extract necessary energy from the food you digest.
5. Keeping your body healthy takes more than eating right and exercising each day. Without the proper nutrients, your immune system weakens and disease sets in. Some examples of potential health issues include: diabetes, heart failure, digestive issues and a variety of other health concerns.
FACT: 80% of your immune system is located in your gut.
6. Prevent disease early on by taking supplements and prevent spending your money. Giving your body daily nutrients can help you save on expensive surgeries, health insurance, hospitalization and prescriptions.
Bottom line? We support taking nutritional supplements NOT because it’s our job, but because it’s what we believe is best for you. Everyone needs different levels of certain nutrients, do you know what your body needs? If you need some help figuring it out, let us know!
Resource:
Myers, Dr. A. (2012, Jan/Feb). Why Taking Supplements Makes Sense. Healthy Living Made Simple, 1, 40.
Little Goldie Locks was wandering through the woods this winter when she realized her golden locks were starting to frizz, break and loose it’s glistening color.
Here are some tips on how to keep your locks luscious during the cold months:
Always dry your hair before heading out. If your hair has moisture in it, the strands will start to freeze which results in breakage. In fact, 45% of women wash their hair after a good sweat at the gym.
Add some extra protection & lock in moisture by adding honey to your conditioner.
To battle the frizz, squeeze a teaspoon of serum into your palm and warm it up by rubbing your hands together. Then lightly brush over those flyaways.
While hygiene is extremely important at all times, washing your hair everyday can actually raise your risk of dry, broken strands. In the dry air, your scalp has to work harder to produce oil which keeps your hair shiny (although avoid “overshine”!). So avoid the dry scalp, use a tiny bit of powder – types vary from baby powder to specific scalp powders – on oily spots every other day instead of shampooing away.
Cold weather zaps voluminous hair, as well as aging or hormonal changes when you become pregnant. Be sure to choose your conditioner wisely. Those that make your hair too soft makes the hair limp. Choose a conditioner that is almost sticky, not like lotion, to add the most moisture.
When you step out of the shower, comb through your hair starting at the ends of the strands and work your way toward the scalp. By avoiding tangles, your avoiding breakage.
Never use hair bands that have plastic or little metal clips. Those clips catch your hair and tear or completely break off your strands.
Go visit your local hairdresser! Trimming off those dead ends on a regular basis automatically gives you healthier, happier hair.
Still having trouble? Strengthen your protect your hair by taking a daily supplement. Try our Hair Supplement to get shinier & thicker hair.
Now go show Goldie Locks what it means to have lovely locks – even during January!
Resource:
DeMaio, K. B. (2012, Feb). Hair Repair. Fitness, 2, 46-50.
You don’t want to? Are you feeling insecure about your teeth? As we age, a number of factors contribute to yellowing teeth, inflamed gums, or worse. Bad bacteria within the mouth can cause such symptoms. So combat this bad bacteria, look to probiotics for a cleaner, healthier smile.
Probiotics – or good bacteria – do a load of good, starting with attached to your teeth and gums that starve, kill or crowd out the bad bacteria. Using floss and picks can also help dislodge bad bacteria (along with your regular brushing).
One of our favorite NutraCenter products for oral health is ProfreshMints - a daily probiotic mint. With one mint daily, ProfreshMints helps you:
Supports Gum and Tooth Health – These natural colonizers of the mouth stick to the tooth surfaces and deep below the gum line to support gum and tooth health.
Naturally Freshens Breath – By binding to the teeth and deep beneath the gum line, the combination of bacteria in ProfreshMints leaves little room or nutrients for the bad-breath causing bacteria to inhabit a healthy mouth. This reduction in bad bacteria equals a direct reduction in those chemical compounds responsible for bad breath.
Gently Whitens Teeth – Natural and on-going low doses of hydrogen peroxide produced by these beneficial bacteria gently whiten and brighten teeth without creating tooth sensitivity or gum irritation.
Other ways to help promote a healthy mouth would be to:
Be sure to include Coenzyme Q10 and B vitamins in your diet which support red blood cell development, making your gums stronger.
Take omega-3 fatty acids to lower gum inflammation and fight off bad bacteria.
Eat colored veggies like leafy greens, citrus fruits, and tomatoes. Eggs are also beneficial.
Include any foods that contain vitamin A, C, E, selenium, lycopene, and lutein.
To order ProfreshMints today, be sure to visit our product page for more details. If you try it out, take before and after pictures of your smile because your teeth are going to be pearly white!
To your health,
NutraCenter Team
Resource:
Budgar, L. (2011, Nov). Smile! Delicious Living, 27.11, 44.
“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” ~Author Unknown
Raise your hands – how many of you out there have weight loss as (one of) your new years resolution? If you raised your hand, don’t feel alone. According to The Globe and Mail, 46 percent of voters said they primed and ready to start the new year off on the right foot.
Everyone knows weight loss is combination of eating the right, heathy foods and exercising on a consistent basis. Burn more calories + eating less = weight loss. Now comes the tricky part of the equation, determining what is the right diet and exercise program for your body and lifestyle…
While we can go on and on about both points, we’re going to focus on diet in this post. Go to any online search engine, turn on the TV, or open a health magazine and you are bombarded with various diet tricks – and traps.
One of the biggest decisions for your diet is on protein: whether you want a high-protein diet or a low-protein diet. Protein is what keeps you full longer as it takes longer to digest and turn into sugar/energy. It can build lean muscle mass and can assist in burning calories even when the body is at rest.
However, too much protein can lead to your body storing that protein as fat to store energy for later. It also can cause the body to lose lean body mass.
The answer?… Those who eat higher-protein diets tend to lose more weight and keep it off longer than those who ate less protein. But it’s not just about protein – the amount of calories you intake will more directly affect how much weight you lose or gain.
It takes 60 days to create a new habit. In those two months you can focus on what you put into your body, evaluate empty calories, and be more apt to listen to what your body needs and wants each day, hour, and minute.
If you have any questions about diet, how to get to the next level of your dieting, and ultimately reach your weight loss goal, don’t hesitate to email us at info@nutracenter.com. Now go start your new healthy habits!
To your health,
NutraCenter Team
Resource:
Shute, N. (2012, Jan 4). Calories Trump Protein For Weight Loss. Retrieved January 5, 2012 from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/03/144632723/calories-trump-protein-for-weight-loss
Every 15 seconds, a child dies from diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid caused by a lack of safe water and sanitation. – Concern Worldwide
While this is not new news, concern for water sanitation has increased around the world. In fact, education on the severity of the issue is spreading and attracting the attention much deserved. Because December is Child Health Awareness month, we figured this would be a great topic for the last blog of 2012.
Hilary Clinton backed the campaign 1,000 Days to Scale Up Nutrition which aims to raise awareness and improve the nutrition of mothers and their children. Led by both Ireland and the U.S., the nutrition funding in Tanzania already has been increased by four-fold.
Learn more by visiting the U.S. Department of State where you can also watch Hilary Clinton’s informational video about the campaign.
Unfortunately, children are not the only ones affected by unsanitary water. As stated on Concern Worldwide, one out of eight people around the world do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. More than half of all diseases are caused by unclean water.
So start 2012 off right by helping not only your neighbors but those in need across the world. There are several organizations working to create healthy environments with clean water for consumption. Start off with these:
What other excelling organizations promoting water sanitation do you know about? Let us know in the comment box below. Now go forth and clean… and have a Happy New Year!
Tis the season for rich foods. Anything goes, from glazed hams and slices of cheese to dense cheesecakes and tons of chocolate goodies. Tis also the time to splurg on all these delicious temptations before we all start our new years resolutions – how many of you include a better diet on that list?
To help you get on the right track January 1, here’s a list of good foods to eat that each include probiotics. These will help keep your digestive system in line and get you past the splurg session on sweets – in a positive way of course!
1. Yogurt: While not all yogurt is made with the same amount of probiotics, check the label to see if they list any of the following probiotic bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus (one of the most popular strains on the market), thermophillus, bifudus and bulgaricus.
2. Kefir: Another fermented dairy product, kefir contains both probiotics AND antioxidants.
3. Sauerkraut: This is fermented cabbage. It is a great source of probiotics as well as vitamins A, B, C and E. Some research shows it’s helpful in reducing allergy symptoms as well.
4. Dark Chocolate: We can already hear you saying “Hallelujah, something not fermented!” That’s fine, in fact, if you find a fine dark chocolate, it may contain up to 4x the amount of probiotics that most dairy items.
5. Miso Soup: A classic Japanese soup, it contains probiotics and is said to help reduce the affects of carcinogens in your system.
6. Pickles: Great additive to a sandwich, or as a side dish, pickles are an easy way to add probiotics to your meal.
7. Kombucha Tea: As seen in the picture, this probiotic tea is starting to spread quickly in the U.S. It has many benefits and is a fun and fizzy drink to enjoy!
NOTE: Please talk to your physician if you have ever had candida before drinking this tea.
8. Tempeh: If you’re vegetarian, you’ve most likely had tempeh. A product of soy beans, it is used on sandwiches, salads or as main dishes in exchange for tofu.
9. Kim Chi: Back to sauerkraut, this is a similar food item but with a Japanese twist. A very spicy item, it contains iron, calcium, certain vitamins and of course, probiotics.
While not everyone can have the same diet, there is an alternative way to get your daily amount of probiotics. An easy way is to take a probiotic supplement…
10. Probiotic Supplement: There are a ton of probiotic products on the market, and while they are most common in Asia and Europe, the United States is slowly catching up in terms of education and availability. While choosing the right probiotic is a whole other conversation, check out one of our favorites: Probulin. On their blog they explain what to look for in a probiotic supplement, how probiotics are beneficial and even where to get your copy of Probiotics For Dummies (special edition now available!).
Now that you’re ready to get a jump start on the new year… we want to know, what’s your favorite probiotic food or supplement? There are no wrong answers here!
Resource
Group, Dr. E. (2011, Dec 22). Top 10 Probiotic Foods to Add to Your Diet. Global Healing Center. Retrieved Dec 22, 2011 from http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/probiotic-foods/
The flu – this one word can mean a world of difference to you and your child. During the winter schools can become breeding grounds for bad bacteria and diseases. One thing we need to establish upfront though – children generally bring home a stomach bug, NOT the influenza which is caused by other viruses than those of the “stomach flu.”
No matter, if your kid is flat on the couch, it means your child is experiencing a number of problems and it’s your job to get them healthy…
1. Replenish fluids – Dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea is a real problem for sick children. Here are some tips on how to rehydrate:
Warm fluids help break up mucus.
Wait to give your child fluids until 30 minutes after vomiting.
Make sure they drink slowly, as large amounts of liquid can cause more vomiting.
Give them a popsicle or use a spoon to keep your kid from guzzling.
Milk, water and other liquids are fine to drink but avoid any juices that are acidic such as orange juice.
2. Back to eating – If food is not staying down, try these suggestions to give your child the nutrients needed:
Wait at least 6 hours after vomiting to give your child some food.
If your kid doesn’t want to eat, try again later.
Stick with small portions as large volumes of food can cause vomiting.
If your child is experiencing diarrhea, add some fatty foods which will take longer to digest and can slow down the system. Try ice cream or milk.
Don’t worry if your child loses some weight; once he/she has recovered, the weight will come back quickly in the majority of cases.
3. Trying medicine – Not all medicine is approved for children. Below are some of the best over-the-counter medicines to help your child recover from vomiting or diarrhea:
Children’s Pepto-Bismol can help calm angry tummies but because it doesn’t include aspirin, it can’t stop diarrhea.
Kids who are 12 or older can take regular Pepto-Bismol or Kaopectate. These both include ingredients similar to aspirin so do not use if your child has the chicken pox or flu-like symptoms (can increase risk of Reye’s syndrome).
For children ages 6 and up, try medicines like Imodium and Kaopectate D-1 which have the drug loperamide.
If your child has any signs of bacterial infection, do NOT use drugs that can stop diarrhea. This can keep the body from flushing out bad bacteria from the intestines.
Do not use any cough, cold or flu medicine for children under the age of 4.
Always ask your doctor when considering giving your sick child over-the-counter medicines before administering them.
Any last tips? Try running a humidifier in your child’s room as dry air can make cold and flu symptoms worse.
With these tips, some movies or games and most importantly, some love and care from you, your child will be back to playing in no time. Warning: watch out for any flying snowballs!
Lily 
Very interesting subject, appreciate it for posting.