Are there raccoons in your garden?

Imagine that you are planning to plant a garden in springtime. You clear the soil of grass and weeds, sift out the rocks, fold in some manure or composted material to enrich the soil. You then plant seeds for squash, peppers, maybe some heirloom carrots. You water the garden and then wait for the seeds to sprout, hoping for a glorious bounty of veggies in a couple of months. But you forgot that there are raccoons, rabbits, and deer in the neighborhood, creatures eager to eat your work. Sprouts come up, leaves, then young vegetables—only to disappear overnight after a raccoon or rabbit feast. So it goes with the garden you call bowel flora: you prepare the “soil,” plant the seeds (probiotics and fermented foods), then “water” and “fertilize” the garden (prebiotic fibers). You don’t have raccoons or rabbits in your intestinal tract, of course, but you have many other factors that, in effect, wreak havoc on your intestinal garden of microorganisms that protect you and your health. The factors that disrupt intestinal microorganisms are not herbivorous creatures but take the form of: Chlorinated/fluoridated drinking water—Municipal drinking water is chlorinated (and, more commonly today, chlorinated with the more persistent chloramine, not chlorine, that cannot be boiled off) to prevent bacterial and protozoal diseases, fluoridated on the (faulty) assumption that it prevents tooth decay, but these two potent halogenated antimi...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle bowel flora gluten grains microbiome prebiotic probiotic Source Type: blogs