Do You Want Gut Flora? Diet Affects Gut Flora. The Obesity/Bacteria Connection. First World Cup. Friday, 13th. Kitten Rescue.

For “Foodie Friday”

Natural Intestinal Flora Strengthen Immune System

“Trillions of bacteria reside in the intestines of healthy humans as well as those of many animals. This natural intestinal flora contributes to digestion and the metabolism of vitamins and is of critical importance for the host organism. Recent research has shown that the intestinal flora also plays an important role in the formation of the immune system in the intestines and that changes to it can increase the risk of food allergies or chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases.

"It was previously unclear to what extent the intestinal flora also influences immunological processes outside of the intestines, such as the defense against viral germs like the flu virus, and that was the main question of our work," explain the scientists.

The team succeeded in demonstrating that signals from the intestinal bacteria lead to a conditioning of the dendritic cells. This conditioning takes place on the level of the DNA in the nucleus and enables genes that encode these soluble mediators to be read better.

The scientists speak of epigenetic changes. "This is the first time anyone has shown that changes in the natural intestinal flora resulting from antibiotics, hygiene, or lifestyle can have substantial consequences for the entire immune system," says Diefenbach.”   

Complete article at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702152940.htm

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Change your gut flora and lose weight

(NaturalNews) “Obese and lean individuals have different gut flora composition. The gut microbiota of mice and humans are similar, with Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominating. At this point it's not clear exactly which species are important in weight management. Some studies show reduced numbers of Bacteroidetes in obese subjects, while others point to lower levels of beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus.

Even though diet will affect gut flora composition, most studies conclude that gut flora on it's own has an effect on weight. Alteration of the gut microbiota can be an important part of a weight loss program.
Several mechanisms have been proposed as to how gut flora regulates weight. Inflammation, energy from polysaccharides, insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure and storage are all affected by gut flora.

What you eat affects the gut flora composition, but it can also be hypothesized that it can happen the other way around; that gut flora partly determines what you eat. People with gut dysbiosis and especially yeast overgrowth often feel sugar cravings. Gut flora can probably influence food cravings and thereby play a part in determining dietary choices.

Obesity is hereditary, and the importance of gut flora shouldn't be underestimated. Flora is passed on from mother to child during birth, breastfeeding and early years. The child also comes in contact with microorganisms from other family members. "Obese gut flora" is passed on to the child.

Children born via caesarean have double the risk of becoming overweight, according to research by Harvard scientists. The obesity increase has been linked to a lack of exposure to good bacteria which may be found in the vaginal wall.  Differences in intestinal microflora during the first year of life have been associated with higher risk of obesity later in life. Especially low levels of Bifidobacteria make children more susceptible to weight gain.

Obese individuals usually have a dysfunctional gut flora with higher numbers of LPS-containing microbiota and methane-producing bacteria. LPS, Lipopolysaccharide, is linked to obesity, leaky gut and low-level chronic inflammation.”
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036331_gut_flora_weight_loss_body_fat.html#ixzz20Rd5Sw7M

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The Importance of Fermented Foods and Probiotics

How Your Gut Flora Influences Your Health

“Maintaining optimal gut flora, and 'reseeding' your gut with fermented foods and probiotics when you're taking an antibiotic, may be one of the most important steps you can take to improve your health. If you aren't eating fermented foods, you most likely need to supplement with a probiotic on a regular basis, especially if you're eating a lot of processed foods. As explained by Dr. Campbell-McBride, poor diet in general, and each course of antibiotics extols a heavy price:

"Every course of antibiotics tends to wipe out the beneficial bacteria and that gives a window of opportunity for the pathogens to proliferate, to grow uncontrolled, and to occupy new niches in your gut. The beneficial flora recovers, but different species of it take between two weeks to two months to recover in the gut and that's a window of opportunity for various pathogens to overgrow.

What I see in the families of autistic children is that 100 percent of mom's of autistic children have abnormal gut flora and health problems related to that. But then I look at grandmothers on the mother's side, and I find that the grandmothers also have abnormal gut flora, but much milder."

The Ideal Way to Optimize Your Gut Health

The ideal balance of beneficial to pathogenic bacteria in your gut is about 85 percent good bacteria and 15 percent bad. Maintaining this ideal ratio is what it's all about when we're talking about optimizing your gut health. Historically, people didn't have the same problems with their gut health as we do today for the simple fact that they got large quantities of beneficial bacteria, i.e. probiotics, from their diet in the form of fermented or cultured foods, which were invented long before the advent of refrigeration and other forms of food preservation.

You can ferment virtually any food, and every traditional culture has traditionally fermented their foods to prevent spoilage. There are also many fermented beverages and yoghurts. Quite a large percent of all the foods that people consumed on a daily basis were fermented, and each mouthful provides trillions of beneficial bacteria—far more than you can get from a probiotics supplement.”      Complete article at:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/06/27/probiotics-gut-health-impact.aspx?e_cid=20120708_WNL_art_2

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The Obesity/Bacteria Connection

“Those of us interested in weight loss and the goal of being lean and fit for life need to understand the vital role intestinal flora exert in our efforts to eat right and absorb what we eat.
Today we look at the good bugs and the role they play in our health and digestion.
The stomach and small intestine contain the least amount of bacterial flora, while the colon is home to the majority of both major flora (or 'good' bacteria) and minor flora, or 'bad' microbes.

Within the colon can be found a range of micro floral bacteria, including ps. Aeroginosa, proteus sp., staphylococci, clostridia and veillonellae, all of which are considered to be health negative organisms, or those that have the potential to upset the balance of bacteria. To appreciate how important the control of micro floral's are, consider that they can cause illness or even death by building up unhealthy carcinogens and causing intestinal putrefaction.

 
Healthy neutral flora (those with both negative and positive intestinal impact) includes e. coli, enterococci, streptococci and bacteroids. The list of gut flora that has only health positive impact are lactobacilli and bifid bacteria.
The two main health-positive gut flora bacteria are lactobacilli and bifid bacteria. These two powerhouses are directly responsible for keeping pathogens in check while supporting the immune system. They coexist with dangerous pathogens in the gut and keep those in check by virtue of competing for food. They exist in a balance so delicate that many factors such as stress, poor diet or simply taking antibiotics can upset the balance in a negative way.

Probiotic use will also reduce exposure to allergies, especially in children. Due to an increasingly sterile environment we live in, the body is exposed to less pathogens, causing our immune systems to not build up any tolerance. This snowballs and can cause allergic reactions to otherwise harmless substances.

It is rumored that probiotics can also prevent or treat everything from autism to acne, though there are no credible studies to give any concrete evidence on these particular conditions.
Do not confuse probiotics with prebiotics, which are not the same thing. Prebiotics are what probiotics feed on. Eating prebiotics can have the same affect as taking probiotics, though, by feeding probiotics in the gut, you are essentially allowing them to further colonize and reproduce, having a similar affect as mega dosing in supplements.”   More at: http://www.lookcut.com/articles/gut-flora-and-weight-loss-day-two.html

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From me: Don’t forget that feed lot, (CAFOs) factory farmed beef and poultry has been pumped with antibiotics, so your gut flora has to contend with that too.  Another reason to only eat healthy range fed meat or poultry.  http://www.rodale.com/antibiotics  and http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/why-factory-farms-threaten-your-health/

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On This Day:

First World Cup, Jul 13, 1930:

“On July 13, 1930, France defeats Mexico 4-1 and the United States defeats Belgium 3-0 in the first-ever World Cup football matches, played simultaneously in host city Montevideo, Uruguay. The World Cup has since become the world’s most watched sporting event.

After football (soccer, to Americans) was dropped from the program for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, FIFA President Jules Rimet helped to organize an international tournament in 1930. Much to the dismay of European footballers, Uruguay, winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics and 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, was chosen to host the inaugural World Cup.

Due to depression in Europe, many European players, afraid their day jobs would not exist when they returned, were either unable or unwilling to attend the tournament. As a result, some of the most accomplished European teams, including three-time Olympic gold medalist England and football enthusiasts Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland did not make an appearance at the first World Cup. However, when Uruguay agreed to help pay traveling expenses, Rimet was able to convince Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In Romania, King Carol selected the team members himself, gave them a three-month vacation from their jobs and guaranteed the players would be employed when they returned.

Going into the tournament, Uruguay and Argentina were the overwhelming favorites, while France and the United States also fielded competitive sides. In the first round, France’s Lucien Laurent scored the first-ever World Cup goal. In its second game, France lost to Argentina 1-0 amid controversy over the referees ending the game six minutes early. Once the problem was discovered, the referees had to bring the Argentine players back onto the field to play the final minutes. After beating Belgium, the United States beat Paraguay to set up a semi-final match with Argentina, which they lost 6-1. Still, the semi-final placement was the best U.S. World Cup finish to date.

In the first World Cup final, held on July 30, 1930, 93,000 spectators looked on as Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in a rematch of the 1928 Olympic gold medal game. Uruguay went on to win its second World Cup in 1950 with a 2-1 win over Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.”

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Friday The Thirteenth In The Bible?

“A friggatriskaidekaphobe (one of the Germanic pagan gods was Frigg, or Freyja, pronounced fry-yah, after which they named Freyja Day, from which comes the English Friday - see Sun Day, Moon Day, Tiw's Day) is someone who suffers from paraskevidekatriaphobia, defined as "a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th."

For some of them, "Friday the 13th" may indeed be a self-inflicted "unlucky day" because they do things that they would not otherwise do, in ways that are not rational (like someone who worries that they are going to get sick - the worry makes them sick). They thereby invite problems and trouble on that day. If they behaved normally, the day would also be normal - with whatever good or bad would have happened.”  See more at: http://www.keyway.ca/htm2012/20120713.htm

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Yesterday:

It was raining when I woke up, but it soon quit.  Ray came over and we did a few odd jobs around here.  Like cleaning the over-bed table that didn’t get sold, so I could take some pictures and advertize it. It had been in a corner in the computer area, but now I needed something else to hold up the shredder.  So we brought a little pale blue chest of drawers out of my yard sale dept. into the work shop.  Ray sanded it and readied it for painting white, when it wasn’t so humid.  (85% yesterday) Then we cleaned AC and air cleaner filters. While he was doing that, I took pictures for ads for the table and a Nylabone foldable pet carrier.

In the afternoon, I found out about a stray feral mama cat that had her kittens in someone's shed.  They said she often has kittens there, and then she moves them under their house, and some die, so they were fed up with it.  The people had the kittens in a box and were going to drown them in the lake.  I couldn’t let that happen.  They had cruelly sprayed the Mama cat with wasp spray, to keep her away from the kittens, but she needed to be trapped.  I took a little pet carrier and trap down there, and baited the trap with some food and a bit of the box where the kittens had been laying.  Hopefully she will be caught in the trap, and can go to the pound and be spayed.    

I brought the 6 kittens here in the carrier, and I set them up in a comfy bed in a cage in my grooming room.  They hardly have their eyes open, so I will be bottle feeding them tonight.  They can manage on diluted evaporated milk for tonight. 

So what am I going to do with 6 ten-day old kittens?  One is a little white male, like my late “Honky”!  I nearly went to the feed store in town to get them some kitten milk, at $16 a can.  But then I remembered how much time and money it took to bottle feed and raise the three orphaned kittens last year.  Plus, I had to take care of them, footing all their bills for many months before all three were adopted.  I am sorry, but I have thought it through, and these kittens will have to go to the pound today.