What Are Probiotics?
While the concept of bacteria being beneficial to our health is somewhat difficult to understand, knowledge of how friendly bacteria (probiotics) work is useful.
“Dead or alive, probiotics are active in the human digestive tract. Dead organisms (via their cell wall constituents) can still dislodge unhealthy organisms from attachment sites on the intestinal walls and create a more healthful environment.” says Wilderness Athlete formulator Rich Scheckenbach. “Live organisms do the same thing as well as propagate, thereby creating more good microflora in the digestive tract.”
Is maintaining optimum gut health as simple as taking a high-quality probiotic every day?
Unfortunately not.
Removing substances from your life that destroy probiotics like sugar, GMOs, grains, antibiotics and tap water treated with chlorine is key to a receptive environment to healthful microflora. Incorporate probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, miso, kombucha, and kimchi into your diet along with a well formulated, shelf stable probiotic like Complete Probiotic. This is a recipe for superior digestive performance and a bullet-proof immune system.
As a label reader, you will sometimes see probiotics that contain upwards of 15 different strains that more is better. At Wilderness Athlete, we focus on the correct strains of each species, rather than trying to include all of them. There are four distinct species in WA’s Complete Probiotic, two of which primarily inhabit the small intestine and two that primarily inhabit the colon.
Additionally, Complete Probiotic contains three efficacious prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides, inulin/chicory root, and acacia gum). These help the probiotics get established in the gut and also to thrive by supplying preferred food sources for the microorganisms that humans cannot digest (thereby reserving these “foods” for the probiotics).*
WA’s Complete Probiotic includes the following probiotics:
