Just a few short years ago, if you believed that yogurt could cure what ails you, people considered you a hippie nutcase. Ok, well maybe it was more than a few short years. In any case, it wasn’t that long ago that physicians and the “legitimate” medical community did not believe in any type of “nutraceutical” medicine. That is to say that whatever you ate had no bearing on your general state of health. Vitamins were unimportant and people who claimed that natural bacteria – such as is found in yogurt – was helping them were dismissed.
Recently, the commercial medical community has latched onto the advantages of lactobacillius bacteria and its ability to correct digestive issues and restore balance to entire physiologic systems. We now have “Activia”, “Danactive”, “Fem-dophilius” and even “Phillips” probiotic capsules. In case you didn’t know, “Phillips” is the maker of “Phillips Milk of Magnesia” long known for treatment of diarrhea.
It amazes me that things that the “hippie-freaks” have known for years finally make it into the mainstream only when big companies can make money from it and now it is the biggest news in digestive and immune health. DUH.
I personally have been a big proponent of probiotics for many years. Doesn’t really matter if you eat natural yogurt with live cultures or take refrigerated lactobacillus capsules from your health food store….the stuff works. I recognized this when, as a young college student, I had a series of vaginal yeast infections. I treated them several times with over the counter antifungal vaginal products but they kept coming back. This particular ailment is one of the most agitating situations a woman can experience – not dangerous just really irritating. I came to a conclusion one day…..if the natural bacteria is gone, and now there is an overgrowth of yeast which causes irritation and itching…..and I kill the yeast off…..what grows next? So I went to the health food store and purchased some lactobacillus capsules to insert vaginally. Seemed kind of gross, but so was the yeast infection. After about 2 days – I was much, much better. Way better than the week it took the antifungal to work. Over the years I have continued to use and recommend this treatment. It always works.
That being said, I guess I am dumb – or stubborn and don’t always follow my own advice. I have told people for years – if you have diarrhea, try eating some yogurt or taking lactobacillus. Then a year or so ago I developed chronic diarrhea. I guess I figured that it was my due time – since I am over 40 and my grandmother had Irritable Bowel Syndrome for years and my grandfather had a colostomy at 35 or so due to Ulcerative Colitis. I just endured.
My husband, who is older than me has Diverticulitis (I call it an old man’s disease – which is very mean) and has bouts of severe abdominal pain which must be treated with 2 different types of antibiotics which leaves him with diarrhea so each time, I dutifully treat him afterwards with yogurt. Always helps.
Then I got really busy – didn’t have time for breakfast most days and started making myself a breakfast drink from fruit juice and….yogurt – because we already had it in our refrigerator. After a few days – damned if my “IBS” didn’t clear up. Actual formed poop…..! And as much as I hate commercialism in medicine….it was actually Activia yogurt that did it. That irritated me more than the fact that I had diarrhea for an entire year out of stupidity. I actually inadvertently took the “Activia Challenge” and it worked. No doubt, any live yogurt or lactobacillus capsules would have worked but apparently I am a slow learner when it comes to my own health.
