Probiotics, our friends, the bugs. Not the ones that go scattering when you turn the light on at home but the ones who have real estate inside your gastrointestinal tract. Good ones, like good neighbors, add health and well-being to our lives. Others can cause us bellyaches, ulcers and much more.

There are probably tens of thousands of different families of these microorganisms living inside of us and many more that sort of visit and move on, a kind of itinerant worker. Both have an important impact on our life span as well as the quality of life. Medicine and science has known for a long time the beneficial qualities of some of these, and you do hear medical doctors recommending Acidophilus supplements after you have taken a big dose of antibiotics. Acidophilus is only one of the many beneficial bugs we have to have to live well so go for a more comprehensive formula.

Here is a list of a few of the most important: Lactobacilli Acidophilus, Lactobacilli rhamnosus, Lactobacilli bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifodobacterium bifidum and Bifodobacterium faecium.

In 1950, three specific effects on our bodies were discovered: elimination of cancer-causing toxins, reduction of bad enzymes that lead to cancer and tumor suppression. Even though these good bugs live in our GI tract the benefits weren’t just limited to the gut function. For instance, cholesterol in the blood dropped, calcium was absorbed better, food poisoning was reduced or prevented and yeast populations reduced overall. There are many other benefits such as elimination of food allergy and stopping bowel irritability. Even heart health is benefited.

Part of why this happens is that these good guys love to live in our systems and as they reproduce their colonies push out other organisms living in the area. This is sort of like what we have done to the deer and wildlife as people have grown in population. Another reason is that the good guys eat up the food source the bad guys would otherwise dine on and the good guys leave behind what the bad guys would call pollution, which makes life unbearable for them. Mind you, this is all good for people.

These supplements are called probiotics. They most often are freeze-dried so they don’t have to be refrigerated. The best are enteric-coated to withstand stomach acid. For sure, these little guys have a lot to offer, far beyond what their size would suggest.