Disinfecting For The Coronavirus May Be Killing Your Good Bacteria – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 149
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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On today’s episode, we are going to talk about all of that hand washing you’re doing and all of those disinfectants you are using to keep the Coronavirus at bay. This is not a bad thing! But the problem is that it can impact your good bacteria and actually kill it off. There are trillions living within and on us and there are always some bad and good. Of course, you want the good bacteria to be in control. Here’s why.
What is a Probiotic?
You’ve often heard the term Probiotic. A probiotic is a supplement of good bacteria to help keep the bad under control. This is very important because all of these good bacteria interact with us in very special ways. So, you need the good bacteria to be in charge, not just for regularity and good digestion, but to also help you fight off infections. This is very important during the Coronavirus.
About 70% of your immune cells come in contact with your digestive tract and with your bacteria. If there is bad bacteria, they kind of confuse the immune system and they don’t keep it under control. If its good, this interacts in a very wholesome way with your immune system. This helps to reduce inflammation and redirect the bacteria into what it should be fighting, which are infectious organisms.
Good bacteria has also been shown to be beneficial for:
- Allergies, including pollen and food allergies
- Inflammation
- Digestive concerns, including constipation and diarrhea
Now, there are strains of probiotic bacteria that you can take that have been shown to enhance the immune system – Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis. That last strain seems to have the most research behind it, providing evidence that it really helps promote immune system function. For instance, a recent meta analysis (a review of five human clinical trials) shows that within weeks the Bifidobacterium lactis helped restore good immune system function in aging people.
When buying a Probiotic supplement, you will want to look for CFU – colony forming units. This ensures that there is a minimal amount of live bacteria that help to recolonize your digestive tract. You will also want more than one strain in your probiotic supplement and you need at least one billion of each. Adding a prebiotic is helpful, which is food for the good bacteria and helps the bacteria to colonize. FOS is a high-quality and suitable prebiotic.
Staying Healthy During the Coronavirus
We do know that social distancing, wearing your mask outside and washing your hands helps to remove the virus and keep bacteria at bay. But this does impact your good bacteria.
Published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy, researched looked at the Hygiene Hypothesis in Germany. They were studying the differences between allergy trends between East and West Germany and found that exposure to household chemicals can kill off the good bacteria.
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Published in the journal Nature Microbiology, researchers from the University of Oklahoma and the University of California San Diego (and about 20 other academic research institutions) were looking at developing cultures in the Amazonian rain forest, or the level of modern urbanization. What they found is that when they started to urbanize or modernize these cultures, the composition of bacteria in the intestines was impacts. The greater the level of modern urbanization, the greater the degree of change of the bacterial species in the intestines. This was all dependent on the exposure to household cleaning products and anti-microbial agents.
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