Jo A. Panyko BS MNT - Probiotics: How To Use Them To Your Advantage: Why You Probably Dont Have Enough Probiotics And What You Can Do About It

Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is educational in nature and is not intended as diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure for any physical or mental disease, nor is it intended as a substitute for regular medical care. Consult with your doctor regarding any health or medical concerns you may have.

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

Probiotics: How To Use Them To Your Advantage
Why You Probably Dont Have Enough Probiotics And What You Can Do About It
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2016 Jo A. Panyko, BS, MNT
v3.0

Cover Photo 2016 Jo A. Panyko. All rights reserved - used with permission.

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To Steve, the man of my life, for your never-ending love, support, humor and patience through all of our journeys together; and to Alison, Ellen and Alex, for being true blessings in my life.

Thank you to my husband and children for your unconditional love and unwavering support, and to my parents for introducing me to things I did not understand at the time.

Thank you to Shari Navarette, my lifelong friend, for your friendship and insightful editing suggestions.

Thank you to Alison Bailey for your talented editing suggestions.

Thank you to all of the researchers in the probiotics/microbiome realm for your meticulous work.

Finally, I am grateful to everyone who has touched my life and helped to make me the person I am.

You are outnumbered. Resistance is futile. The microbes in and on your body outnumber your human cells, with some studies showing the ratio as being ten to one1, depending on calculation methods. Additionally, microbial genes vastly outnumber human genes.

Seemingly unrelated health challenges such as weight gain, food poisoning, digestive and reflux issues, intestinal problems, vaginal issues, urinary problems, mental health and others have one thing in common: they all can be linked to these microbes.

Not all microbes are bad, however; there are beneficial microbes called probiotics which can actually help with health challenges!

This book focuses on:

• Why probiotics should fit into your life (including over 29 different benefits to you!)
• Why you probably do not have enough of them because of things you eat, take and do (things you do not even realize!)
• How you, the host, can strategically use your outnumbered status to your advantage, particularly in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Although this book focuses primarily on the benefits of probiotics to your digestive tract, you will understand how probiotics may be beneficial for a wide range of conditions such as:

• Allergies
• Constipation, diarrhea, reflux (GERD), IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), IBD (irritable bowel disease) and pouchitis
• Reproductive challenges such as bacterial vaginosis, candidiasis and infertility
• High cholesterol and cardiovascular risks
• Urinary tract infections (UTI) and kidney disease
• Skin conditions such as eczema, acne and atopic dermatitis
• Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression
• Arthritis and osteoporosis
• Pulmonary infections
• Obesity, diabetes and chronic fatigue syndrome
• Some cancers
• Improved athletic performance

Learning about health has been and still is an exciting journey for me as an adult, but I did not think it was exciting when I was a child. My father did not allow junk food and sodas when I was growing up. For many years he had a massive garden and he and my mother jarred a lot of produce. We ate simple foods on a strict budget together as a family. I felt cheated compared to my friends who had access to junk food, and I loved going to their houses and having it. I had no idea what it was doing to my gastrointestinal tract, to my health and to me.

As a young adult, I developed numerous health problems and took multiple courses of antibiotics, mainly for sinus infections. When I became a mother, I wanted my children to be as healthy as possible and thus my quest for answers to questions about health began in earnest. Through my research, I gradually learned what nutrition meant and why my father was so adamant about it and about family dinners. I was able to solve the causes of my sinus infections, without antibiotics, and get autoimmunity under control.

Part of the solution to my health problems involved daily home-cooked family dinners and home-packed lunches in which I could control the ingredients. As a result, those were and are routine in our house. My kids have not-so-fond memories of being subjected to glop-like smoothies and various epic culinary failures. However, over time and with perseverance, I learned how to mesh flavor with nutrition and we began to enjoy tasty and nutritious, home-prepared food. Of course, an epic failure still occurs occasionally when I try new recipes!

My kids also remember me trying to sneak probiotic bead capsules into their yogurt or applesauce since they couldnt swallow them with water. Without understanding the intricacies of probiotics, I knew they had some kind of magical benefit. We have been using them in our family for over 20 years.

After years of employment as an engineer and then years of proper nutrition schooling, continuing education courses and my own zest for knowledge, I started my own business as a nutrition therapist with this keen interest in probiotics and anything having to do with digestive health. It is with this passion that I created the popular science-based, informational website, www.PowerOfProbiotics.com, and wrote this book, because I have learned how amazing and powerful probiotics truly are!

The concept of probiotics is simple, but the details are not. There is much misconception on blogs, websites and in the media about probiotics. I see it in my interactions with other healthcare professionals, with my nutrition clients, with people who contact me via my website, www.PowerOfProbiotics.com, and with the general population.

I have two goals in writing this book:

1. The first one is to dispel many of the misconceptions people have about probiotics. There is a lot of misinformation passed on by well-meaning folks!
2. The second one is to help you gain an understanding of probiotics so you can use them to your advantage to optimize your health. Probiotics offer many benefits to you which will become clearer as you read through the book. When you are faced with the incredible magnitude of information on probiotics on the internet and through news media, it is no wonder that you may feel overwhelmed and not know what to believe. It is not your fault!