Beneficial bacteria = Good bacteria = Probiotics

The healthy human colon (large intestine) is populated with trillions of one-celled organisms; primarily bacteria and yeast.

There are normally many species of disease-causing bacteria and yeasts in the colon. These become a problem when their populations grow to a point where they begin to negatively impact the health of the host (you). When one takes antibiotics for treatment of infections, an inadvertent effect is to kill off many of the beneficial bacteria. As these good bacteria are killed by the antibiotic that you take, it is common that they are replaced by disease causing bacteria and yeast.

Whenever one is taking an antibiotic to treat an infection, one should immediately begin taking good bacteria twice a day. Every medical doctor that writes prescriptions for antibiotics should know this and should advise you to do so. But in case your MD hasn't considered the long-term damage that may be done to your digestive tract and immune system by not replacing these critical good bacteria, just do it yourself!

There are many different types of good bacteria. Common ones include: acidophilus and bifidobacteria.

Many commercial probiotics have little or no viable/live bacteria in them. The unknowing customer is purchasing a product that is worthless or of little value.

Q: How can one know whether the bacteria in a supplement are alive/active or dead/inactive?
A: The best way to know is to contact the distributor or manufacturer and ask for a certificate of verification. The manufacturer should have its product tested by an independent third party that certifies the viability of the bacteria in the product. 

Here at Ventura Chiropractic we carry UltraFlora Plus which is a dairy-free probiotic that is guaranteed and certified to contain 5 billion live acidophilus organisms and 5 billion bifidobacteria organisms. ($20 for 60 capsules - keep refrigerated)