The Gut Decision That Could Save
Your Digestive Health
By Lorin
Shields-Michel – Healthy Living Article
We’ve all made them—gut decisions that are based not
on facts but on feelings. Somehow you just know that what you’ve
decided is right. You feel it… in your gut. But there is another kind
of gut decision you can make, one that focuses specifically what your
digestive system needs in order to function properly and healthily.
At some point in our lives, we’ve all suffered from
some type of digestive ailment. Perhaps it was a case of constipation,
or the opposite, diarrhea. Some people suffer from more extreme and
chronic problems. In fact, according to the National Institutes of
Health, 60 to 70 million people are affected by digestive problems,
some so severe that approximately 234,000 die each year. There are 14
million hospitalizations each year, at a cost of nearly $107,000
billion annually. As many as 1.9 million people are disabled because
of their digestive health. One person who suffered from debilitating
digestive health was Jordan Rubin, the bestselling author and founder
of Garden of Life health supplements.
About Jordan Rubin
Jordan Rubin was 19 years old when he was struck
with Crohn’s disease, an abnormal inflammation of the small bowel and
colon that causes the intestinal wall to thicken, ultimately rendering
the intestinal tract incapable of absorbing nutrients. A healthy and
robust teen until that time, Rubin went from 180 pounds all the way
down to 104. Literally starving to death because of his body’s
inability to retain and absorb the nutrients essential for life, Rubin
tried conventional medicine, then alternative medicine, spending
hundreds of thousands of dollars on a two-year journey that he
describes as being “trapped in a prison of my own body.” Finally, he
turned to the Bible and discovered that some of nature’s best remedies
for health come from the earth. Some may consider them gifts from God,
but the founder of Garden of Life also considers them gifts to
humanity.
  “Jordan
believes, indeed all of us at Garden of Life believe, that there is a
spiritual, emotional and physical connection between the gut and the
brain,” explains Roberta Modena, vice president of marketing for
Garden of Life. “If you feed your gut what it needs to be healthy,
your brain is able to function better, stronger and smarter. This is
something Jordan found out with his near-fatal bout with Crohn’s. It
left him delirious at one point. But once he started feeding his body
the microflora and enzymes needed, he began to recover. This is the
foundation behind our digestive aid products,
Primal Defense Ultra probiotics &
Omega-Zyme Ultra digestive enzymes.”
About Digestion
Digestion begins in the mouth where our saliva
contains the digestive enzyme amylase. When we chew food, we break it
down into smaller particles so that it can be digested. If people
don’t chew food thoroughly because they eat quickly or because they
have problems with their teeth, they may increase the burden on the
digestive organs, including the stomach, small intestine, the
gallbladder, liver and pancreas.
The stomach mechanically mixes food. It also
releases substances that chemically break down food, such as
hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid, often called stomach acid, helps
digest proteins, fat, vitamins and minerals, maintains the acidity of
the stomach, and helps kill bacteria, viruses and parasites.
Next, enzymes from the pancreas and small intestine
are released into the small intestine to continue the digestion
process and to enable the body to absorb carbohydrates, fat and
protein. In addition, bile salts secreted from the gallbladder help
with the digestion and absorption of fats and the fat-soluble vitamins
A, D, E and K.
The small intestine is the primary organ involved in
the absorption of nutrients. Anything that interferes with the
secretion of enzymes or bile salts, or disrupts the absorptive walls
of the small intestine may result in vitamin and protein deficiencies
as well as a host of other issues.
There are a number of things that happen between
eating and eliminating waste. The preceding is only an overview. When
problems arise is when you’re not feeding your body what it needs in
order to properly digest food and keep it running smoothly and
efficiently. Naturally, eating a healthy, balanced diet helps. But
external factors like stress can contribute to digestive problems.
Those problems can range from acid reflux disease to chronic liver
disease, irritable bowel syndrome (the dreaded IBS) to pancreatitis to
name only a few.
In addition to food, you need to feed your body a
steady diet of probiotics and digestive enzymes. Luckily both are
available in two new innovations from Garden of Life:
Primal Defense Ultra and
Omega-Zyme Ultra.
Probiotics
Probiotics (from “pro” meaning positive and “biotic”
meaning life) are living microflora that play a critical role in
maintaining good digestive health. Probiotics, which are the opposite
of antibiotics, are actually present in many live foods, but are often
destroyed by heat processing. These live probiotic cultures populate
the intestinal tract and play a positive role in digestive and immune
system health. How do they do that? By supporting normal intestinal
comfort and function; helping maintain a healthy, balanced immune
system; and helping support a normal gastrointestinal balance between
good and potentially bad bacteria.
“In
Primal Defense Ultra, we have created the ultimate high-potency,
broad-spectrum probiotic formula,” says Modena. “It provides a 15
billion live cell count of 13 different organisms including soil-based
probiotics called Homeostatic™ Soil Organisms.”
Homeostatic Soil Organisms are super probiotics that
restore balance to the gastrointestinal tract. They activate and
encourage gut restoration by attaching themselves to the intestinal
mucosa. On the gut wall they reproduce to form colonies that
essentially eat any harmful bacteria and other pathological
microorganisms.
Primal Defense Ultra includes probiotic species like
Bacillus subtilis to support a healthy lactic acid bacteria count and
healthy pH levels in the gut. The formula also includes Saccharomyces
boulardii to produce certain nutrients that nourish the intestinal
mucosa, promoting a healthy intestine while supporting the normal
barrier function of the intestinal epithelium. Translation: it arms
the front line of the body’s defense system with ammunition to fight
the bad stuff.
Enzymes
Enzymes are living catalysts that are present in all
whole live foods but, once again, are destroyed by cooking and
processing. These digestive enzymes break down foods into nutrients
your body can use.
Modena says, “Our
Omega-Zyme Ultra contains 21 digestive enzymes specifically
selected to digest the full range of proteins, fats and carbohydrates
found in a typical meal. By supporting the complete digestion of food
for gastrointestinal health, regularity and normal bowel function,
these enzymes also help to unlock the nutritional value of the foods
we consume.”
The enzymes included in Omega-Zyme Ultra run a
virtual relay race, where one enzyme passes off to another to another
until the race for good digestive health is won. This relay system
enables enzymes to survive the high acidity levels in the stomach and
be delivered to the small intestine intact and biologically active.
The result delivers maximum digestive results.
The Ultra in Digestive Health
These two advanced supplements from Garden of Life
work together to provide the probiotics and digestive enzymes
necessary for maintaining good digestive health. It could be the
upgrade you’ve been waiting for.
The best way to support gut health is through both
enzymes and probiotics. Enzymes break down the food while probiotics
make sure things are flowing properly. They provide balance in the
intestinal tract.
Primal Defense Ultra and
Omega-Zyme Ultra deliver a one-two punch to knock out digestive
problems.
“People are becoming more and more aware of what’s
happening in their gut,” says Modena. “From immune system
irregularities to allergies to a general feeling of lethargy, all can
be traced to poor gut health. Listen to your gut. That’s where things
happen. When you start to understand that taking better care of the
gut will eventually produce better feelings and better health, you’ll
also feel lighter on your feet because things are moving the way they
should.”
Modena and the team at Garden of Life believe that
probiotics may very well be the multivitamin of the twenty-first
century. They are perhaps the single most important thing you can do
to create better gut health. The second most important thing is
enzymes. The synergy between the two will help to sustain digestive pH
levels.
Both supplements are available in UltraZorbe™
capsules and in BioProtect™ packaging. The formulas are 100 percent
vegetarian, and the state-of-the-art UltraZorbe capsules are free from
all chemical solvents, animal by-products and colorants often found in
other delivery systems. The research conducted by Garden of Life
suggests that UltraZorbe capsules dissolve in the stomach, releasing
the contents of the capsule at the most opportune time to support
optimal nutrient absorption.
As for BioProtect packaging, this represents another innovation for
Garden of Life. The glass bottles protect the cultures from oxygen and
moisture infiltration, ensuring freshness, potency of the formulas,
and overall integrity. Inside is an oxygen absorber to find and bind
free oxygen, and a desiccant to absorb moisture, which can reduce and
accelerate nutrient degradation. You’ll also find a double safety seal
to protect the product from tampering and to further preserve
freshness.
Whether you’re suffering from a diagnosed digestive
issue or whether you simply want better digestive health,
Primal Defense Ultra and
Omega-Zyme Ultra are the dynamic duo you need to keep your
internal body moving and grooving. That’s a gut decision worth making
every day.
The statements contained in this article have not
been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information
contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent
any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this article are for
information only and should not be interpreted as medical advice,
meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. Readers
are encouraged to consult their health care provider before beginning
any cleanse, diet, detoxification program, or any supplement regimen.
The information in this document is not to be used to replace the
services or instructions of a physician or qualified health care
practitioner. |
