We recently met up with actress Felicity Huffman, NY Times best-selling cookbook author Ellie Krieger, RDN, and model Amanda Quinones to discuss the importance and life changing effects with nutrition, exercise and probiotics. Following is what we learned at a symposium sponsored by Renew Life about the growing trend in using probiotic supplements.
According to the Mayo Clinic, probiotics are good bacteria that are either the same as or very similar to the bacteria that are already in your body. Your lower digestive tract alone teams with a complex and diverse community of these bacteria. There are a greater number of bacteria in your intestines than there are cells in your body.
“Probiotics help us absorb nutrients from the foods we eat, and they produce B vitamins we can use; they support our immune system and work to prevent harmful bacteria from making us sick,” said Ellie Krieger. “I believe that not only should we eat probiotic and prebiotic foods, but also incorporate a supplement in your diet.”
Amanda Quinones, further elaborated on the subject about how her child with Downs Syndrom has improved immensely in health and wellness ever since she discovered the probiotic supplements, “Parenting takes guts and I don’t view our son’s Micah’s disability as a limitation. My husband and I use probiotics to help keep our entire family healthy so we can reach our full potential,” she said.
According to a study at the Mayo Clinic on prebiotics and probiotics, Probiotics are in foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut; prebiotics are in whole grains, bananas, onions, garlic, soybeans and artichokes. In addition, probiotics and prebiotics are added to some foods and available as dietary supplements.
Here are the key points of their usage:
• Treat diarrhea, especially after taking certain antibiotics
• Treat irritable bowel syndrome
• Speed treatment of certain intestinal infections
• Prevent or reduce the severity of colds and flu
• Ease allergic disorders such as eczema and hay fever
Actress Felicity Huffman spoke with Beauty News NYC about her personal experience and the reasons for putting her family on supplements. “I’ve been taking probiotics for 12 to 15 years and about two years ago I found Renew Life. When they approached me to work with them, I immediately said yes because I have their supplements in my refrigerator,” she said. The immediate effects she stated were that she didn’t get sick as much especially when under a lot of pressure and traveling. She decided to give them to her two daughters and noticed an overall improvement in the health of her entire family. “Illnesses such as colds, ear infections, sore throats, fatigue and stomach problems subsided and our immune systems improved,” she added.
The topic of ‘gut health’ has been rather tabu but perhaps this will help open up the discussion and advancement in science.
Learn more about probiotics at the following websites:
#BeingHumanTakesGuts
Photos by: Loren Wohl
