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Synbiotic Blend of 10 Beneficial Strains, Developed by Board-Certified Gastroenterologist

Healthy Aging

Healthy Aging depends on maintaining a healthy digestive system aided by probiotics.

Testing your gut bacteria: A new way to screen for colon cancer

Despite our growing awareness of colon cancer, a recent report about the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in America has predicted a dramatic jump in this disease over the next 15 years. Unfortunately, this worrisome rise is among millennials and Gen Xers, not the typical age groups linked to colon cancer (those over age 50).

Currently, colon cancer screening methods (usually for patients over age 50) include uncomfortable tests like a colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy and double-contrast barium enema.

A pair of recent studies may have found new, non-invasive methods to effectively screen for colon cancer via a patient’s gut bacteria, which can complement existing tests.

Studying the human microbiome for clues to colon cancer

European researchers looking for signs of early stage tumors compared stool samples taken from 42 patients with precancerous intestinal polyps, 53 patients with advanced rectal or colon cancer and 61 healthy patients prior to the typical colon cleanse before a colonoscopy, according to the study published in Molecular Systems Biology.

Many factors were taken into consideration, from examining DNA sequencing and cataloging the genetic makeup of gut bacteria to collecting information about key factors that influence colon cancer (ethnicity, body mass index and age).

Scientists discovered that a subspecies of Fusobacterium nucleatum was present in colon cancer patients, and validated later in an independent cohort study of 335 patients from various countries. (This newer study mirrored the findings of a 2013 report that identified Fusobacterium nucleatum as a factor in increasing the likelihood of tumors.)

Testing gut bacteria using genetic analysis in tandem with existing procedures like the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) increased the accuracy of testing by 45 percent compared to the blood test alone.

Moreover, using genetic testing may be more effective in detecting early stages of colon cancer compared to the FOBT, said study co-author Dr. Julian Tap to Gut Microbiota Worldwatch.

Could gut microbiome testing be more accurate?

Examining the gut microbiome for signs of colon cancer yielded similar results in another study published in Cancer Prevention Research that compared stool samples from 30 healthy patients to equal numbers of patients with precancerous polyps and invasive colon cancer.

After identifying gut bacteria signatures for each group and including age and racial information in the mix, scientists were able to improve their ability to predict the presence of precancerous polyps by more than 400 percent. Adding body mass index with the rest of those factors increased the ability to predict invasive colon cancer by more than a factor of 5.

Also, analyzing gut microbiomes was more accurate than using the FOBT in determining which patients had precancerous polyps compared to invasive colon cancer.

“We found that the composition of the gut microbiome allowed us to identify who in our study had precancerous adenomatous polyps and who had invasive colorectal cancer,” said study co-author Dr. Patrick Schloss, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in a press release.

“If our results are confirmed in larger groups of people, adding gut microbiome analysis to other fecal tests may provide an improved, noninvasive way to screen for colorectal cancer,” Schloss continued.

These studies provide another opportunity to remind you that microbial imbalances in your gut—greater amounts of bad bacteria versus beneficial bacteria—are a serious indicator of colon cancer.

However, taking a multi-species probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic offers many benefits, including increasing the diversity of beneficial gut bacteria that can protect your health from colon cancer.

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12 simple steps to lower your blood pressure safely

Have you been seeking alternatives to medicines to lower your blood pressure?

Hypertension is a very common medical problem, and there are very effective medications available to treat elevated blood pressure, but most people would prefer to avoid taking prescription drugs whenever possible.

A recent Journal of the American College of Cardiology study discovered an excellent reason for patients to seek out other options, based on an extensive review of some 400,000 patient records at Kaiser Permanente Southern California who were taking medications for hypertension.

Being over-treated or under-treated with medications above or below a “normal” range of 130-139 systolic pressure and 60-69 diastolic blood pressure increased a patient’s chances of death or the development of kidney failure.

Too Much or Too Little

“Physicians have often emphasized the need to bring a patient’s blood pressure down as low as possible for the best outcomes,” said lead study author Dr. John Sim. “However, the findings of our study suggest that treating patients with high blood pressure too aggressively may potentially lead to poor health outcomes.

“Through personalized treatment plans, we can minimize the lifestyle burden on patients and improve the safety of their treatment regimens, while reducing the cost to both patients and the health care system as a whole.”

A third of all Americans suffers from high blood pressure, according to the National Institutes of Health, amounting to nearly $100 billion spent on medications, services and missed workdays.

However, there are alternatives that can lessen your dependence on so many medications while being just as effective. Try these 12 simple steps to lower your blood pressure safely. (Any lifestyle alterations you make should always be discussed beforehand with and monitored by your doctor.)

The Top 12

1. Get moving with an exercise plan. Starting slowly by investing two days a week on activity is a good place to start, according to Men’s Fitness.

2. Find ways to better handle the stressors in your life, such as learning meditation or taking a yoga class.

3. Cut down on your body’s intake of salt by skipping extra condiments and limiting your intake of processed and fast foods to a minimum.

4. The best pathway to better health is exercising along with eating a better diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and potassium that can reduce the damaging effects of sodium on your blood pressure.

5. Exposure to secondhand smoke along with smoking increases your risk of atherosclerosis, building up the fatty substances in your arteries that elevate your risk of death, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). This is one case in which you win by quitting something.

6. Because excess belly fat is a major contributor to hypertension, maintaining a body weight closer to your body mass index (BMI) is very important.

Too Much Everything!

7. Check with your doctor about all the medicines you’re taking that can elevate your blood pressure or create other health problems. Over-the-counter meds containing licorice root, ginseng and ephedra can cause problems, too.

8. Are you drinking a lot of caffeinated coffee, tea and soft drinks? Limit your intake of caffeine, considered by many to be the most popular drug in the world.

9. Limit your consumption of alcohol to a moderate, daily amount based on your gender (one drink for women and two for men).

10. Did you know the stress associated with visiting your doctor may be enough to elevate your blood pressure to hypertensive levels? Wirecutter offers great guidance on how to choose a home blood pressure monitor that will help you track your numbers more accurately every day.

11. Eating a small amount of minimally processed, flavanol-rich dark chocolate every day not only helps to lower your blood pressure, but the yummy brown stuff also interacts with the good bacteria in your gut to produce anti-inflammatory compounds.

The Probiotic Treatment

12. Taking a daily probiotic may lower your blood pressure, according to a recent study in the AHA journal, Hypertension.

Based on an analysis of nine studies examining the effect of probiotics on 543 patients with elevated or normal blood pressure readings, taking a probiotic decreased the systolic (top) number by some 3.5 milliliters and diastolic (bottom) blood pressure by 2.38 milliliters.

Patients who benefited the most took a multi-species probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic for at least two months.

Each timed-release capsule of EndoMune Advanced Probiotic contains 20 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) and 10 strains of bacteria that benefit your health in a growing number of ways.

 

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How Probiotics Protect Your Heart Health

You may already read studies showing that probiotics can provide beneficial treatment for common health conditions like acne, hay fever and even your emotions.

Did you know that maintaining a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut also protects your heart?

A pair of recent studies demonstrates how the health of your gut may provide easy-to-spot clues that can identify cardiovascular problems like heart disease, diabetes and chronic inflammation.

Probiotics vs. obesity

The bacterial diversity of your gut may be linked to your risks of obesity-related disorders, according to a Danish study that compared the health of 123 non-obese patients to 169 obese patients.

No surprise, researchers concluded the greater the amount of beneficial bacteria and the diversity of those species, the greater the protection to cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes and chronic inflammation.

On the other hand, patients with lower bacterial richness had more adipose tissue (fat), and were more vulnerable to diabetes, chronic inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.

Approximately 25 percent of the patients tested had a lower richness of gut bacteria and about 40 percent less gut bacteria genes and bacteria overall than the average patient.

These smaller amounts of bacteria found in this Danish patient group were also indicative of low-level but chronic inflammation present in the digestive tract as well as the entire body.

This low-level but persistent inflammation can also contribute to metabolic changes and boost a patient’s risks cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, according to the study.

Too much TMAO hurts your heart!

The lack of diversity of gut bacteria isn’t the only factor that affects your heart health. What foods you eat are also connected to how your gut creates chemicals that can harm your heart.

A Cleveland Clinic study uncovered a link between eating too many choline-rich foods (egg yolks and fatty meats) and the production of TMAO (trimethylene n-oxide), an natural gut byproduct and heart disease trigger that promotes the accumulation of plaque in the arteries, by gut flora.

For the first phase of the study, patients were instructed to eat two hard-boiled eggs, then take a choline capsule to show how gut flora raise TMAO levels in the blood. When the same patients were given a broad-spectrum antibiotic to suppress gut flora, TMAO levels dropped, even after taking a dose of choline pill.

During the final phase encompassing more than 4,000 patients and three years, higher TMAO levels in the blood were responsible with greater risks of death and non-fatal incidents of stroke or heart attack in patients.

Choline isn’t the substance that triggers gut flora problems. Carnitine, a similar nutrient contained in red meat, dairy products, fish, avocados and peanut butter, has also been linked to elevated TMAO production and heart attack risks.

With more health data accumulating about the ways your gut plays a bigger role in your heart health, there’s one proven and completely safe way to protect your microbiome: Take a probiotic made from multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic every day.

If you want to safeguard the gut health of your kids too, EndoMune Advanced Junior will help their gut health and immune systems.

Protect your heart and gut health for those you care about the most this Valentine’s Day weekend.

How Probiotics Protect Your Heart Health Read More »

Going or Not Going: Relieve Constipation Safely

Constipation is an uncomfortable health problem that can make for painfully awkward conversations. This is why Americans often turn to family physicians or gastroenterologists when constipation becomes a concern.

Constipation is responsible for some 2.5 million visits to a doctor or specialist annually in America, according to the American College of Gastroenterology.

There is no hard-and-fast definition for constipation, but it’s often described as the inability to have more than three bowel movements per week. However, some people who experience only three bowel movements weekly are still healthy, depending on their age, diet and daily physical activity.

Telltale signals you may want to see your doctor about a constipation problem include straining, hard stools and incomplete evacuation occurring in more than 25 percent of bowel movements, according to WebMD.

Common, less serious causes of constipation:

  • Living a sedentary lifestyle.
  • Forgetting to drink enough water.
  • Not eating enough fiber-rich foods.
  • Postponing a necessary trip to the bathroom.
  • Failing to deal with life’s stressors.

A more serious problem

Constipation can be a more costly and serious health problem than you assume, according to a 2009 report published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Some 63 million people living in America suffer from constipation every year, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, and spend $235 million annually to treat it. Researchers also found links between constipation and a number of painful health problems:

Hemorrhoids: Straining during a bowel movement may cause veins in lower rectum to swell or become inflamed.

Anal fissure: These small tears in thin, moist tissue may happen when you pass large or hard stools during a bowel movement.

Fecal incontinence: Constipation, along with diarrhea and muscle or nerve damage, may cause an inability to control bowel movements.

Colon cancer risks increase with chronic constipation

The health outcomes become even more serious if you experience chronic constipation, according to a 2012 study that compared the health of nearly 29,000 patients suffering from persistent constipation to some 87,000 healthy patients. The risk of colon cancer nearly doubled among patients with chronic constipation while the incidence of benign tumors (neoplasms) increased nearly threefold.

Colon cancer is nothing to ignore, as it’s the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of death among all cancer types in the U.S.

“Although chronic constipation is considered a relatively benign disease, practitioners should be aware of this potential association to monitor and treat accordingly,” said Dr. Nicholas Talley of the University of Newcastle and co-investigator of this study. “We encourage anyone with questions related to their condition to talk to their health care professional so that the specific health needs of each patient can be balanced with the risks and benefits of medications.”

Relieve constipation

One of the popular medications people use to treat constipation — sodium phosphate laxatives — was the subject of a recent FDA warning, based on patients exceeding the recommended daily dosage of this over-the-counter remedy.

The FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System showed a single dose of sodium phosphate per day was associated with rare, but serious damage to a person’s lungs and heart.

Children under age 5, baby boomers over age 55 and people diagnosed with or taking medications for kidney disease are among the patient groups who are at the greatest risk of serious complications when laxative dosage is exceeded. (Children under age 2 should not be given the rectal form of sodium phosphate.)

Taking a probiotic with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, like EndoMune, is a safer treatment for constipation that has the added advantage of boosting your immune system, reducing your risks of colon cancer and maintaining normal intestinal motility.

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Eating a healthy diet promotes gut health and a longer life

There are so many reasons why maintaining the balance of your gut bacteria is important for your health, ranging from boosting your body’s natural immunities to sidestepping traveler’s diarrhea.

You may not be very shocked to know that good gut health can change quickly for the good — and bad — based on eating a healthy diet. You may be surprised to learn eating a healthier, calorie-restricted diet can help you live a longer life too, based on findings from Nature.

Where You Live Makes a Difference, Too

First, a study conducted by Irish researchers at University College Cork on more than 170 people over age 78 concluded the health of their gut was determined by two factors: What they ate and where they lived.

Older people who lived independently in their communities were healthier and had a more diverse (and healthier) gut microbiome than those who resided in a nursing home or hospital.

Interestingly, although the diets of the elderly changed quickly when moving from independent living to a nursing home or a hospital, researchers discovered alterations in their collective gut health to a less diverse, weaker state took a year to occur.

Cut Calories, Live Longer

In a study on mice, a team of Chinese researchers discovered reducing their caloric intake by 30 percent — below what these animals would typically need to maintain the same body weight for a lifetime — promoted a more diverse environment for improved gut health by radically changing its composition.

Scientists discovered the act of calorie restriction promoted the presence of some beneficial bacteria, including Lactobacillus, and decreased the amount of harmful bacteria, including some opportunistic pathogens.

One more benefit from a calorie-restricted diet for possible pain management: Researchers observed a drop in inflammation scores among mice.

There’s at least one caveat about calorie restriction: Cutting calories alone may not work alone in lengthening your life. Based on research on fruit flies, increasing physical activity may provide the jump-start your metabolism needs too.

In addition to getting the right amount of exercise and lowering the amount of calories you consume every day, especially cutting out nutrient-poor foods stuffed with empty calories, taking a probiotic with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, like EndoMune, is a safe, easy way to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria for good gut health.

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Traveling this holiday season? 6 ways to avoid traveler’s diarrhea

 

With the Christmas/New Year’s holidays nearly upon us, the “trendy” gifts aren’t big-screen TVs or tablets waiting under a tree to be opened. Material things are taking a back seat to something new: Large families taking long-distance trips to far away places across the ocean, according to travel experts.

Traveling with a large contingent of your family, for instance, on a jungle expedition to the other side of the world conjures thoughts of once-in-a-lifetime memories. One of those recollections that will stay with you forever, however, should not be the days you spent sick with traveler’s diarrhea.

Unfortunately, traveler’s diarrhea is the most common ailment travelers face, affecting as many as half of all Americans traveling to international destinations. Although traveler’s diarrhea may happen any time — even after returning home — the CDC warns the onset usually starts during the first week of your trip.

The symptoms of traveler’s diarrhea — frequent trips to the bathroom, loose stools, nausea, cramping, bloating and fever — are abrupt, meaning they won’t sneak up on you. Although traveler’s diarrhea is rarely life-threatening, most incidents are resolved in a week, just enough time to ruin your dream trip.

The following precautions should do the trick to help you and your family sidestep traveler’s diarrhea and make your trip a healthy one.

The Six Ways to Avoid Traveler’s Diarrhea

1. Be sure you and your loved ones are current on all of your vaccinations. You may also need to be vaccinated for diseases (Hepatitis A and B and Typhoid) that aren’t found in North America.

2. The popular warning “don’t drink the water” should also include avoiding unpasteurized dairy foods (milk and cheeses), fruit that hasn’t been washed and peeled and cooked foods allowed to cool. Also, don’t chill your drinks with ice that may be produced with unclean water.

3. Keep your hands as clean as possible with simple soap and water, especially before a meal. Travelers should also stay away from touching their mouths, faces or any mucous membranes with their hands as much as possible during their trip, according to the CDC.

(A warning: A proposed rule under consideration by the FDA would raise the burden on manufacturers to prove their antibacterial soaps prevent more infections than simpler soaps.)

Watch For Bugs!

4. Because diseases can be spread due to mosquito bites, consider using insect repellants made with DEET or picaridin.

5. As a preventative measure, some medical experts have suggested prescribing antibiotics in the past. However, those same experts are thinking twice, considering all the problems connected with increased antibiotic resistance and eradicating the balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut.

6. A growing number of studies have found consistently taking a probiotic at least two days before a long-distance trip can boost your immune system naturally, and help you and your family avoid traveler’s diarrhea.

For healthy adults, taking a probiotic formulated with multiple strains of bacteria like EndoMune on an empty stomach about a half-hour before eating your morning meal may boost your immune system and promote optimal gut health.

Also, if you must take an antibiotic on the road, be sure to delay taking a probiotic by two hours. Doing so will reduce the risk of antibiotics destroying the live, beneficial bacteria contained in a probiotic that preserve and protect your gut health.

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teeth probiotics

Do you use a probiotic to protect your tooth health?

Medical science has established that good dental hygiene promotes overall health by stabilizing blood sugar and lowering risk for infections and heart disease.

But did you know that new research shows probiotics may also be the go-to weapon to protect your teeth and body from a growing host of health challenges?

A recent study, published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, found that taking a probiotic containing Lactobacillus Reuteri may offer “significant, additional clinical improvements” compared to root planning and scaling (one invasive method to prevent gum disease from becoming more severe) for patients dealing with chronic periodontitis.

Probiotics Could be Easier Than Standard Dental Treatments

Patients who took a probiotic lozenge twice a day were 53 percent less likely to have deep dental pockets, a common health problem associated with periodontitis, compared to those given a placebo. When teeth succumb to periodontitis, gums pull away from teeth, forming spaces that become infected, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Periodontitis spurs the body’s immune system into action, as plaque spreads and grows below the gum line. The combination of the body’s natural immune response and bacterial toxins start breaking down the connective tissue and bone that keep teeth in place.

If periodontitis isn’t treated, the gums, bones and tissues supporting the teeth are destroyed. This could lead to loose teeth that need to be removed.

More Studies Confirm the Value of Probiotics in Protecting Teeth

Interestingly, this isn’t the only study that has found probiotics protect teeth, according to the Academy of General Dentistry’s The Daily Grind.

  • A 2011 study determined a combination of milk containing probiotics and fluoride may reverse primary root caries lesions (PRCL) in patients age 58-84.
  • Chewing gum containing the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri may decrease inflammation, according to a 2009 study.
  • Lactobacillus reuteri was also at the heart of a 2006 study as the probiotic bacteria was found to reduce levels of gingivitis and plaque in patients experiencing moderate to severe gingivitis.

Here’s one more healthy reminder about protecting the health of your teeth and body: If you’re using a standard brand of toothpaste, check the label to ensure it doesn’t contain triclosan, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial compound that has been linked to endocrine disruptions, antibiotic-resistant infections and superbugs.

Even as manufacturers have begun phasing out triclosan, the CDC raised new health concerns. A recent report found a 50 percent increase in triclosan levels across all U.S. demographic levels.

All the more reason everyone should take a probiotic.

 

Do you use a probiotic to protect your tooth health? Read More »

Strengthen Your Immunity During Chemotherapy

Our newsletter recently reported that probiotics slow growth of cancerous tumors and improve outcomes of bone marrow transplant patients fighting blood cancer.

For Part 2 of this series on probiotics and cancer, we take a closer look at the role that gut health and probiotics play in strengthening immunity during chemotherapy.

In many cases, chemotherapy is a necessary tool many medical experts use to fight cancer that harms as often as it helps. Research shows that good gut health, promoted by taking a probiotic containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, may make a difference in protecting the health of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Good Gut Health Protects Chemotherapy Patients

A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry uncovered a biological mechanism that protects the gastrointestinal tracts of mice given lethal doses of chemotherapy.

High doses of chemotherapy are often the only treatment for patients with late-stage metastasized cancer. This poses a great challenge to patients and doctors as higher dosages can kill healthy cells before eliminating a tumor, says Dr. Jian-Guo Geng, associate professor at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Geng’s team of researchers identified a key protein in the intestinal stem cells of mice (Robo 1) that binds with certain proteins that accelerated intestinal regeneration and repair of their gut, thus protecting their overall health.

The extra stem cells produced by this process protected their digestive tracts, enabling test animals to consume more nutrients, prevent bacterial toxins from entering the bloodstream and withstand higher doses of chemotherapy.

Between 50-75 percent of the mice treated with the Robo 1 molecule survived lethal doses of chemotherapy. All of the mice that didn’t receive the molecule died.

Probiotics May Treat Common Chemotherapy Symptoms

A review of evidence in a 2011 study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition suggests probiotics may provide benefits for the treatment of mucositis, one of the more common and harsher side effects of chemotherapy.

Mucositis is a painful inflammation and ulceration process that affects the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and oral cavity of patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Although there are no established treatment plans for mucositis (due to the multiple factors that contribute to it) researchers found probiotic-based therapies can offer good health benefits, including the protection of gut bacteria and the inhibition of inflammatory cytokines (proteins that help in cell signaling).

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10 Ways to Protect Yourself this Flu Season

With autumn upon us and cooler temperatures on the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already begun posting comprehensive dos and don’ts about the 2013-14 flu season (that can begin as early as October and end as late as May). These reminders include all the reasons you absolutely need to get a flu shot.

However, if you’re feeling a little shy about getting a flu shot, there’s plenty you and your family can do to protect yourselves from the flu. Here are 10 completely safe, effective and natural ways to protect your health from the flu and boost your immune system naturally without a flu shot.

1) Wash your hands early and often with plain ol’ soap and water for at least 15 seconds to get rid of germs that may linger. There’s no need to use antibacterial soaps.

2) Don’t forget the exercise. Staying active with some kind of exercise program will help you stay a few steps ahead of the flu.

3) Get the right amount of sleep you need every night. Skipping valuable sleep time to catch the end of a late football game will catch up to you over time, leaving your body vulnerable to diseases like the flu.

4) Don’t overdo the antibiotics. Taking antibiotics every time you’re sick can deplete your immune system residing in your gut, leaving your body more vulnerable to disease.

5) Drink plenty of water. Depleting your body of the natural fluids it needs is one more variable among many that makes your body more vulnerable to the flu.

6) Keep your home extra clean to repel the bugs. According to the CDC, human flu viruses can survive as long as 8 hours on common surfaces (doorknobs, books and doors).

7) Take care of your emotions. Our go-go-go lifestyles don’t leave much time for you to handle stress as well as you should, so give yourself the gift of time—ideally 30 minutes a day—for you.

8) Eat the right foods, every day all the time. Even something as simple as a hot liquid like chicken soup may more helpful in treating congestion than consuming the same thing at room temperature.

9) Get enough vitamin D. However, before supplementing your diet with vitamin D, health experts like the Vitamin D Council recommend getting your blood levels checked often.

10) Take a multi-strain probiotic every day gives your body’s immune system a much-needed boost. Not only can taking a multi-species probiotic restore the healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, but it also boosts your body’s immunities naturally and safely.

Also, studies have shown probiotics containing lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium lactus strains like EndoMune Jr. can decrease cold and flu symptoms in kids, too.

10 Ways to Protect Yourself this Flu Season Read More »

10 ways to treat acne naturally

Are you fighting acne without success? A survey of websites about acne lists countless ways to beat it. Unfortunately, many treatments involve taking drugs like the controversial Accutane or antibiotics that have been so overprescribed they often disrupt the healthy balance of gut bacteria that can lead to diarrhea.

The good news, however, is that there are many effective ways to treat and prevent the spread of acne. What follows are 10 completely safe natural acne treatments.

  1. Keep your hair cut and off your face. Because your hair contains oils that contribute to acne breakouts, keep your hair off your face. Washing your hair every day and after workouts is also recommended.
  2. Apply honey on acne for a quick fix. Honey is a natural antibacterial that’s used in many facial products. But, if you want to eliminate a pimple in a hurry, there’s nothing like applying a dab of real honey on it then putting on a Band-Aid before going to bed. By the following morning, the pimple should be a lot smaller, if it isn’t gone.
  3. Don’t touch your face. You probably aren’t aware how often you touch your face, scratch your nose or lick your fingertips with your lips before turning the page of a book. This doesn’t account for the all the unclean surfaces you touch, including germs on your cell phone, either. Since touching your face at some point during the day is unavoidable, washing your hands often with soap (a non-antimicrobial product is better for your health), and hot water is a safe and easy solution.
  4. Wash your pillowcases regularly. You spend a good portion of your day in a resting position with your face planted on a pillowcase that absorbs the oils and dirt your face has accumulated. Give your face a rest by changing the pillowcases on your bed at least every other day.
  5. Ice it down. When you first notice a pimple, put an ice cube in a plastic bag and place it on the infected area at least twice each day for no more than five minutes at a time. The icy cold reduces inflammation and eases the redness.
  6. Don’t squeeze! Probably the worst thing you can do – picking at or squeezing your pimples – breaks membranes below the skin, thus increasing sebum production and spreading it underneath your skin.
  7. Do you need all that makeup? Using makeup is one more way to clog your pores. If wearing makeup is important to you, be sure to use water-based products, and wash them off your face when your day is done.
  8. Reduce the extra rubbing of your skin with plastic or synthetic fibers. Although we assume acne as being just a problem on your face, it can creep up anywhere. One form, acne mechanica, is caused by friction, pressure or heat applied to the skin or when skin isn’t exposed to air (playing an musical instrument, carrying a backpack or wearing athletic equipment are good examples). What we assume is a rash due to constantly rubbed skin is really acne.
  9. Sweating cleans the pores of your face. Have you incorporated exercise into your daily routine? Working up a good sweat improves your emotional health, and beats the stress that can disturb the healthy balance of intestinal bacteria. This imbalance over-stimulates the immune system that can contribute to skin inflammation and trigger acne.
  10. Take a multi-species probiotic every day. When people experience acne due to the aforementioned imbalance that over-stimulates the immune system, many doctors prescribe a topical or oral antibiotic. However, the overprescribing of antibiotics have led to undesirable side effects, including a disruption in the body’s healthy balance of good and bad bacteria causing unwelcome side effects like diarrhea. Not only can taking a multi-species probiotic replenish the healthy balance of bacteria in your body, it can lessen gastrointestinal problems and reduce the inflammation that triggers acne safely and naturally.

We hope these 10 tips help you cure acne naturally!

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