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If you’ve ever been told to, “Go with your gut,” you likely thought it was advice you could either take or leave.  Truth is, your gut is in the driver’s seat determining where you’re heading, when and if you will get there and how you’re going to feel all along the way.

Most of us don’t know it, but we are providing room and board for hundreds of trillions of microorganisms that live in and on us. Bacteria -- along with viruses and fungi -- are the microbes that not only reside in us but also compose 90% of our being. The vast majority of these residents are housed in our gut.

How Important are our Microbes?

For years, scientists agreed that the sheer volume of our microbes indicated they had some impact on our health.  However, it wasn’t until recently they came to realize that these bacterial visitors are extremely critical to life. Indeed, we now know that our intestinal bacteria help us by producing vitamins, sending critical signals to our immune system, generating energy, making molecules that help our brains work and fighting off bad bacteria. Clearly, without these good bacteria, we wouldn’t exist; and, when the bad bacteria start to outnumber the good bacteria, our health suffers. “There’s a good chance your microbiome is associated with every disease you can think of – diabetes, cancer, autism,” according to Michael Snyder, PhD and Director of Stanford University’s Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine.

The Role of Lifestyle and Environment on our Bacterial Guests

The lifestyle and environmental choices we make play a major role in the health of our gut. For instance, our modern diet of processed and sugar-laden foods literally starves our probiotic colonies causing them to diminish, which essentially lays out the red carpet to welcome the bad bacteria into our system. Another culprit is our consumption of antibiotics - both as medicine and in our food supply. As it turns out, most broad-spectrum antibiotics do not discriminate - they kill the good along with the bad. In addition, stress weakens our bacterial balance and has a detrimental effect on our immune system.

Fortunately, there are some important (and not too difficult) steps we can take to support our beneficial flora so that it can thrive.

• Focus on a whole food diet high in fiber

• Consume both probiotic and prebiotic foods  

• Only use antibiotics when absolutely necessary

• Choose antibiotic-free meat, fish, dairy and eggs

• Minimize chlorine exposure 

• Find ways to reduce stress  

• Supplement with high quality probiotics 

The Problem with Most Probiotics & What You Need to Know

Adding a probiotic supplement to your daily routine is often the most beneficial and tangible step you can take as you look to rebuild and maintain the health of your intestinal flora. Unfortunately, most probiotics on the market are simply not effective due to the following:

•  The beneficial organisms do not survive your stomach acids

•  The probiotic bacteria are dead by the time you take them

•  The strains are not resident to the human gut

•  They do not deliver a sufficient variety of strains  

Wellness magazine Choice

In our research, we came across a relatively new company that is pioneering the way toward gut health with superior probiotic formulas. Hyperbiotics was formed after the founder contracted a parasite as a result of poor gut health from years of antibiotic use and was bed-ridden for 6 full months.

This experience set her on the path to finding a solution. After joining forces with the top microbiologists and scientists in the country and using two patents (a patented controlled-release delivery method as well as a patented manufacturing process), they were able to overcome the greatest challenges with probiotic supplementation - ensuring the beneficial flora are indeed alive when you get them and that they will survive the harshness of your stomach acids in order to colonize within your intestines where you actually need them. In addition, Hyperbiotics formulas contain a variety of the most proven strains that are resident (aka “meant to reside”) in your gut.

Along with providing the most effective probiotic supplements on the market today, the company's mission is to educate others on the truths surrounding gut health, giving us both the knowledge and tools to support our bodies to be healthy once again.

Hyperbiotics specializes in probiotics – in fact, it’s the only thing they do. In addition to their flagship PRO-15 product, they also have specific formulas for women that help battle female health issues, for children (a very tiny pea-sized pearl), probiotics for oral health and even for expecting or new moms. To find out more, visit hyperbiotics.com.

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