RAMADAN AND YOGHURT

Its less than five days to Ramadan and Muslim faithfuls around the world are preparing for the holy month and the blessings abound in it.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan during which the Muslim faithful observe their month-long fast. It is one of the five pillars of Islam.

And we at Adila Yoghurt intend to make the month a rewarding one. We shall share yoghurt recipes, benefits of yoghurt, and some fun things to do during Ramadan.

Today, its about Probiotics.

What are probiotics?

There are very few people who have not heard about the "new" health miracles called probiotics. They claim to help with health problems, ranging from constipation to diarrhea, and prevent colds or fight them once you already have one. Probiotics are showing up in foods, beverages, and supplements. What exactly are they, do they work, and are they safe for us to be consuming? 

Let's start with the facts behind what probiotics are. The root of the word probiotic comes from the Greek word pro, meaning "promoting" and biotic, meaning "life." There is some debate about how to define probiotics. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines probiotics as "live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host." The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in yogurt with live cultures, is the best known. Yeast is also a probiotic substance. Probiotics are also available as dietary supplements. Read more about probiotics here

When you’re healthy, your intestinal tract hosts over 100 trillion friendly bacteria. (That’s 10 times more than the number of cells in your body!) 

These good germs spend their days aiding digestion, boosting the immune system, and consuming bad bacteria. They manufacture key nutrients and limit the growth of yeast and unhealthy bacteria – and in their spare time, probiotics help inhibit bouts of lactose intolerance, poor digestion and diarrhea.

When your “good” bacteria levels are optimal, they outnumber the bad guys by roughly 5 to 1, but take a few gastro-intestinal wrong-turns and the bad bacteria can quickly overwhelm the good, triggering a host of gut problems. 

So how to keep your gut functioning at its best? 

Get to know the probiotic basics to help your belly – and its 100 trillion good bacteria – flourish! 

An unbalanced belly is a sick one

About 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut, so keeping it in good working order is our #1 Job. In a healthy gut, parasites and yeast may be present in small numbers, but don’t cause any problems. 

However, when enough of the beneficial bacteria are killed (e.g. with antibiotics), the bad guys (parasites, yeast and bad bacteria) gain the upper hand, causing an imbalance that can manifest itself in a variety of unpleasant ways, including:

• Numerous digestive problems (constipation, colitis, IBS)
• Skin problems (eczema)
• Joint problems (arthritis)
• Altered behavior patterns and brain function

Know the enemy

Without enough good bacteria keeping things in check, your gut will act and feel like a bacterial battleground, with the bad guys running rampant and stirring up debilitating gut troubles such as the ones mentioned above. 

And while aging does contribute to declining levels of good bacteria, there are a number of other factors that can wipe out the good guys (no matter your age) and create the perfect environment for the bad bacteria to flourish. 

Among the most common killers of our good bacteria:

• Antibiotics – they’re Kryptonite to both good and bad bacteria
• Chlorine, found in almost all tap and bottled drinking water
• Virtually all non-organic meat, chicken and dairy, because they’re loaded with antibiotics
• A diet high in meats or fats, which the body is slow to break down, which in turn promotes the growth of harmful bacteria
• Constipation, which allows harmful bacteria to remain in the gut too long and multiply
• Cigarettes, alcohol, junk food and stress
• Radiation and chemotherapy

Enjoy a bowlful of probiotics

For a tasty and easy way to optimize good bacteria, simply increase your intake of fermented foods. Why? Because they contain and deliver a wide variety of good bacteria to the gut, versus processed foods, which have the opposite effect. Yoghurt. Miso, tempeh, kim chi, sauerkraut and kefir,  are great sources.
Equally, in Nigeria, there are various fermented food products ranging from “ogi” (fermented maize gruel); “ogi-baba” (fermented millet gruel), “fufu” (fermented cassava products) and “wara” (fermented milk product) etc from which lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which display probiotic properties,  have been isolated.  Ogi is called akamu among the Igbo.

But what about yogurt?

Many people eat yogurt because they've been told that it’s a good source of friendly bacteria. However, this is not necessarily true. The bacteria used to make most yogurt (L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus) are not the key beneficial bacteria. Some brands add a small amount of acidophilus just so they can say so on the label.

Plus, much of the yogurt you buy in the store is pasteurized after it is made. This is done to increase the shelf life, but pasteurization destroys all the benefits of the yogurt. So, if you do chose yogurt in the store, make sure the label says “live, active cultures.” And of course, you want to make sure your dairy products have not been produced with antibiotics or hormones.

Send in the probiotic cavalry

To restore your “friendly” bacteria, in addition to eating the fermented foods mentioned above, probiotic supplementation is an extremely effective way to repopulate your gut quickly and return it to a healthy, balanced state.

The two most well researched and commonly used types of healthy bacteria are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria.

Bottom line ….

What I love about quality probiotics, is their almost miraculous ability to transform sick people into healthy ones simply, quickly and effectively, without drugs, negative side-effects or, dare I say it, much extra effort.

What’s more, regular consumption of dairy-based probiotic formulations are associated with a 20 per cent reduction in the risk of pre-eclampsia, a complication in pregnancy. More importantly, researchers suggested in the American Journal of Epidemiology that daily intake of dairy-based probiotics such as yogurt was associated with a 39 per cent reduction in risk of severe pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia, affecting two to three per cent of all pregnancies, occurs when a mother’s blood pressure rises to the hypertensive range, and excretion of protein in the urine becomes too high. It is estimated to be responsible for about 60,000 deaths worldwide.

Just a few inexpensive capsules, homemade yoghurt and foods taken with meals can help prevent and correct debilitating digestive problems such as constipation, diarrhea, colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Probiotics produce immunity-boosting chemicals and kill off invading pathogens. They help protect against stomach ulcers, food poisoning, lactose intolerance, yeast overgrowth, yeast infections, harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi. 

They even help improve your skin’s health and appearance. How many things can do all that? In short, probiotics offer a massive bang for your health buck – so do all you can to help them flourish!

Culled from: http://www.onhealth.com/probiotics/article.htm, http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9166/probiotic-power-why-the-secret-to-a-healthy-belly-is-paved-with-good-bacteria.html

Have Probiotics worked for you? Please share in your comments.

Finally, we found a link for useful apps during the fasting period.  The list covers all the mobile phone platforms that are popular around these parts, but it is by no means exhaustive. So if you find an app, that’s not here even if it’s on another platform, please share in the comments and we would add it. http://www.techsuplex.com/2013/07/01/apps-for-ramadan-2013/?utm_content=buffer4c914&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

Here is also a link to making yoghurt at home http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-yogurt-from-powdered-milk.htm

Ramadan Mubarak!