As you may know, if you are sensitive to gluten and/or have Celiac disease, your body attacks your small intestine when you consume gluten. This prevents you from absorbing nutrients that are essential to your body. Often times, your stomach begins to bloat and you feel terrible. In fact, your gut microflora plays a big role in developing the disease. It has been found that probiotics may help heal the intestinal barrier function in those that have Celiac disease. It is important to keep a healthy ratio of good to bad bacteria in your intestine [85% good to 15% bad]. Taking anti-biotics knocks out your system of bacteria, and in order to help your body replenish the "good" bacteria, it is important to take a probiotic. Another inflammatory culprit to your intestines is... SUGAR! Eating sugar actually feeds the bad bacteria, causing your gut to become inflamed. So, even if you eat a gluten-free diet, it is important to limit your sugar intake. When you need that sugar fix - think natural sugars, like those in fruits. Fruits are naturally gluten free. To help restore your flora in your intestines no matter where you are in your gluten walk, I recommend taking a probiotic. This helped me GREATLY, especially when I started becoming gluten free. My stomach reduced in size as I started fighting off the bad bacteria growing in my intestines. I've tried many probiotics and the best I've found yet is: Florastor [as pictured]. I take one capsule in the morning and one before I eat dinner. Another way to help keep your flora in balance is to eat yogurt. But beware! There is hidden sugar in yogurt and not all yogurt is gluten free! I am partial to Chobani's and love eating them. They are high in protein and provide live active cultures to help fight the pesky bad flora in my intestines. I checked out their website and all Chobani's are gluten free [except their Flip line]. I prefer the apple cinnamon myself!
From my happy tummy to yours :] - mel
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