We live in an incredibly health-conscious time. It seems that everyone has an opinion on vitamins, health shakes, or nutritional supplements these days. Two items that have been gaining a lot of attention lately have been probiotics and high-grade, food-derived, vitamins, known as nutraceuticals. What are nutraceuticals? What are probiotics? What are their differences and their uses? This article will attempt to answer those questions in order to help you choose the best nutritional supplements for you.
- Probiotics:
Your body is infested with an assortment of different kinds of bacteria. It may come as a shock to you to learn that some bacteria are actually very good for you. Many of these “good bugs” live in your stomach. They help to properly digest food, as well as aid in other essential bodily functions. It’s important to encourage healthy levels of these bacteria colonies in order for the body to function normally.
Probiotics are found in both pill form as well as in food, and they contain the good bacteria that your stomach craves. Lactobacillus probiotics are things like yogurt and other fermented foods which, when eaten, aid in the digestive process. Your doctor will recommend taking probiotics to combat such issues as: irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, or diarrhea.
There is also some research that indicates that probiotics may help aid: skin conditions, urinary and vaginal health, oral disease, as well as allergy management.
- Nutraceuticals:
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, nutraceuticals are pharmaceutical grade vitamins that are derived from food, and designed for the management of certain health conditions. People will commonly confuse nutraceuticals with their distant cousins: vitamins or nutritional supplements. However, nutraceuticals are not the average, run-of-the-mill Omega-3 capsule that you can buy at your local grocery store. The reason for this confusion is due to American food and drug laws which lump all vitamins together into the same category.
Nutraceuticals are high-absorbing nutritional supplements. This means that, unlike the vitamins at your neighborhood GNC, most of the nutrients are actually being absorbed into your body, rather than being digested and then passed as waste. They will also often be designed with specific uses in mind. Take, for instance, Pharmaden Nutraceuticals…
Pharmaden Nutraceuticals are super-powered vitamins used to manage oral diseases and aid in the mouths recovery.They are formulated to give the body the essential nutrients to build jaw bone, protect tooth enamel, and maintain the health of your gums. They are a foodstuff (as a fortified food or dietary supplement) that has been shown to provide health benefits in addition to its basic nutritional value.
Comprised of natural ingredients, these supplements enter the blood stream in a much more efficient way than their store-brand counter parts. Pharmaden proves this point by having extensive, third-party, research that backs their results with a double-blind study. I have yet to find any other supplement that goes through such an effort to be this transparent. Take a look at some of their testimonials featuring real medical professionals: Pharmaden Testimonials
Many nutraceuticals are only available through a medical professional. However, due to growing demand for vitamins that actually work, they are beginning to become easier to get for the average health-conscious consumer. Case in point: Pharmaden now allows anyone to order their products.
As consumer demand increases, and as American legislation on its food and drugs continues to evolve, public knowledge about probiotics and nutraceuticals will begin to grow. Until that happens though, we all must research everything about what we put into our bodies. Fortunately for you, that’s exactly what we are here for J.