HERB-OF-THE- WEEK _YOGURT WITH LIVE CULTURES

Posted by: "papa_de_q"
HERB-OF-THE- WEEK – 04-11-2010 – YOGURT WITH LIVE CULTURES
Greetings!!
As always, I pray that God blesses me to provide accurate and timely information and that He blesses each and every one of us spiritually in such a way where a physical blessing is the result, yet physically/material ly in such a way where a spiritual blessing is the end result.
More importantly, I pray that God blesses us all in such a way, where the source of the blessings is as plain as the nose on our faces.
As I explained in the last posting, over the next few weeks, I will focus on those herbs, nutritional supplements or holistic remedies that are widely considered to be panaceas.
Panacea
Main Entry: pan·a·cea
Etymology: Latin, from Greek panakeia, from panakēs all-healing, from pan- + akos remedy
: a remedy for all ills or difficulties : cure-all
One such cure-all is YOGURT. We are talking PLAIN WHITE YOGURT WITH LIVE AND ACTIVE CULTURES. I am not here to down all the different
brands of yogurt with all the fancy flavors, which honestly taste good!! But I do want to stress the importance of getting real plain yogurt, without all the flavorings, colorings and sugar. Sooner or later you will discover it is always better to prepare your own food without the aid or help of the major food manufacturers and
their re-fined processed foods. You can sweeten it yourself with just a little bit of honey, molasses, stevia or whatever you choose. The yogurt you want is plain yogurt (maybe vanilla flavored) with live and active cultures. Plain yogurt contains around one-half of the calories of the fruity, better tasting brands. Actually to say one is better tasting than the other is speculative. You can easily stir in your own nuts, strawberries and bananas and things like that. I have come to really enjoy making my own. It contains almost twice the amount of proteins, more calcium, no fillers and again, no sugar.
The main and most important thing yogurt does is help to restore the proper balance of "good" microbes that should exist in your digestive tract. These "good" microbes ensure that more of your food is actually digested. These "good" microbes help to break down food, thus ensuring that more nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream.
Yogurt is easier to digest than milk. Many people who cannot tolerate milk, either because of a protein allergy or lactose intolerance, can enjoy yogurt. The live active cultures create lactase, the enzyme lactose-intolerant people lack and helps improve lactose absorption in lactase-deficient persons. Moreover, depending on the brand, yogurt generally has less lactose than milk.
There are many doctors that believe that "death begins in the colon". You can research and Google this, meanwhile I'll just take their word for it because over the years. I have read numerous reports about numerous studies that have concluded this. Yep! I'll take their word for it. There is another medical truism that states that, "You're only as healthy as your colon." Yogurt contains lactobacteria, intestines-friendly bacterial cultures that foster a healthy colon, and even lower the risk of colon cancer. Lactobacteria, especially acidophilus, promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon and reduces the conversion of bile into cancer causing bile acids. The more of these "good" bacteria", the merrier. Studies have shown that yogurt even seems to deactivate harmful nitrates and nitrites, found in cold cuts before they can become carcinogenic.
Because yogurt is a rich source of calcium in a easily digestible form, it discourages excess growth of the malignant (cancerous) cells lining the colon. Calcium also binds cancer-producing bile acids and keeps them from irritating the colon wall. People that consume more calcium have lower rates of colorectal cancer, maybe by as much as 75% less!! This is significant.
Yogurt boosts your immunity by causing your body to produce more interferon. I don't know a whole lot about interferon – please remember I am not a doctor – just passing on information I believe to be useful!! - but I do know that it is used for people with chronic viral diseases such as Hepatitis C and experimentally in AIDS. There are people/organization s that claim to have cured HIV with multiple low dosages of interferon. But what do I know? I know that more interferon is a good thing!! Studies have shown that the "good" bacteria cultures in yogurt have also been shown to stimulate white cells (germ killing cells) in the bloodstream.
If you are some kind of antibiotic regime for some kind of infection, you are in danger of killing the "good" bacteria along with the bad. Research shows that it is good to eat yogurt while taking antibiotics.
Most women already know that real yogurt with live cultures reduces the amount of yeast colonies in the vagina and decreases the incidence of vaginal yeast infections.
Yogurt actually helps the body to MANUFACTURE certain vitamins!! This is amazing. Vitamins like B-complex vitamins, along with vitamin K. Yogurt helps the body to manufacture essential fatty acids called short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These are valuable nutrients for intestinal cells and also produce cancer-fighting substances.
As if this were not enough yogurt somehow protects against cardiovascular disease by helping to regulate cholesterol and tryglyceride levels in the blood.
Finally it has been demonstrated that children recover faster from diarrhea when eating yogurt.
I could go on… but then you would not have anything to Google. I'm nice like that!! LOL
The BEST YOGURT will have a seal on it that states that this yogurt contains live and active cultures (LAC seal) and milk. Look for the label.
And on that note, I'll end this newsletter with well wishes of good health to you all. Good night.
But why take my word for it? IT'S YOUR HEALTH.
You can research anything mentioned in this newsletter yourself. Some good
search engines are www.mamma.com and www.dogpile. com as well as Google.
Enter one or more keywords to do your own research.
Until next time remember .... most illness can be attributed to FOUR important
factors that can weaken your immune system and your ability to fight off
disease:
1. Anxiety, depression, anger, guilt and other STRESS factors
2. Improper and/or inadequate NUTRITION habits
3. A sedentary lifestyle that does not include enough EXERCISE
4. Not enough rest and quality SLEEP time
The United States Surgeon General warned Americans in a landmark 1988
report on Nutrition and Health that "diet related diseases account for
68% or more of U.S. deaths"
Remember, we ALWAYS recommend that you ALWAYS consult a professional
herbalist, naturopathologist or physician. We are just passing along
what we hope to be useful information.