Frequently Asked Questions about Digestive Health in General

  1. What about colon cleansing?
  2. What about “toxins” in the colon?
  3. Are probiotics helpful for a healthy person?
  4. What are the best probiotics?
  5. In what medical conditions have probiotics been found to be useful?

1. What about “colon cleansing”?

From a medical and scientific standpoint, colon cleansing makes no sense. You can never rid your colon of bacteria, nor should you ever want to. The good bacteria are your friends and should be fed properly. “Colon cleansing” is advertised as:

Enemas – These are often called colonics or high colonic enemas. All of them simply empty out the lower portion of the colon. Nothing more. Within minutes after a colonic, bacteria begin to grow in this empty portion. And you should hope they are the good ones.

Herbal formulas – Some herbs such as cascara and senna or sennasides are true stimulant or, what we in medicine call, irritant laxatives. These can be useful for temporary constipation. Virtually all the other herbs put in colon cleansing formulas provide nothing but plant fiber. There is probably nothing wrong with any of them but few or none of them have the medical research behind them that there is for inulin, oligofructose and our special formula, oligofructose enriched inulin. Additionally, these herbal formulas are much more expensive than eating fresh foods that contain natural fiber.

Psyllium – some manufacturers promote psyllium as a “cleansing” agent. Psyllium is simply a plant fiber that encourages a large, bulky stool. We are not sure what is meant when psyllium is referred to as a cleansing agent.

2. What about “toxins” in the colon?

Medically, these are called “endotoxins”. Many bacteria in the colon make endotoxins or toxins. E. coli is one such commonly known bacteria. It is almost impossible to get rid of most of these bacteria completely. What is known to help is to use prebiotics such as Prebiotin. Prebiotics vigorously stimulate the good bacteria to grow and, in so doing, restrict the bad endotoxin producing ones from growing.

An even more important fact just recently discovered is the fact when “bad” bacteria predominate in the colon, then the lining of the gut becomes weaker. The endotoxins or toxins from colon bacteria are then able to more easily move through the colon wall and into the blood stream. This, indeed, is what a leaky gut is. Prebiotics and Prebiotin can help prevent this from happening.

3. Are probiotics helpful for a healthy person?

Probiotics are live bacteria most commonly found in yogurt, other dairy products and pills. There is now good medical research to indicate that probiotics provide positive digestive health benefits when they become a significant part of the entire bacterial mix within the colon. It is particularly important that enough nutrients are provided to encourage the growth of these bacteria. That is why a prebiotic such as Prebiotin can be so important. Prebitoics enhance the power of probiotics.

4. What are the best probiotics?

The names of these organisms unfortunately are technically difficult names for those not familiar with the field. Still, these are the names on the labels of yogurt, other dairy products and pills. The best probiotics seem to be:

+ Lactobacillus (L.) rhamnosus
+ L. bulgaricus
+ L. acidophilus
+ L. casei
+ Bifidebacterium (B.) longum
+ B.fidum
+ B. breve
+ Streptococcus thermophilus

Yogurt will often have a blend of several of these good bacteria species.

5. In what medical conditions have probiotics been found to be useful?

First, no probiotic should be taken for a medical problem without a physician’s concurrence.  With this understanding, the following medical disorders have shown improvement with a specific probiotic.  It needs to be stressed that in each of the conditions below a specific and different probiotic was helpful.

  • Childhood diarrhea due to a virus
  • Diarrhea when an antibiotic is taken
  • Diarrhea due to bacteria called C. diff (clostridium difficile)
  • Diarrhea when traveling overseas in developing countries
  • Dermatitis due to allergies, especially in children
  • Pouchitis after surgical removal of the colon
  • Bloating due to irritable bowel syndrome