Protection With Probiotics

By Kelley Herring

You probably know that probiotics - the bacteria found in yogurt, buttermilk, and other cultured dairy products - can improve gastrointestinal health. Now new research shows another way these good-for-you germs guard against disease.

Researchers at the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health found that probiotics deactivate carcinogens that can damage DNA. And in doing so, they may help protect against one of the most prevalent cancers - colon cancer.

To get the cancer-fighting benefits of probiotics, kefir is your best culinary bet. (It has the highest concentration of probiotics.) Just watch out for the flavored varieties, which can be loaded with sugar and extra calories. Ideally, opt for a high-quality probiotic supplement (with "live and active" on the label) to get the maximum beneficial bacteria per serving, calorie- and sugar-free.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series.]

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It’s Fun to Know: Fish Hibernation

It turns out bears, squirrels, and other woodland creatures aren’t the only animals to sleep through the winter. Marine biologists have discovered that Antarctic cod hibernate too. The cod reduce eating to about once a week, slow their heart rates, and settle down on the ocean floor during the coldest part of the year. Researchers believe this allows the fish to survive the region’s dark winters, when it’s hard for them to find food.

(Source: National Geographic )

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Word to the Wise: Protracted

"Protracted" (proh-TRAK-tid) - from the Latin for "to drag forth" - means drawn out or prolonged.

Example (as used by Terrence Rafferty in The New York Times): "[Bette Davis’s] breakthrough role… came in John Cromwell’s 1934 adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel Of Human Bondage, in which she plays the coldhearted Cockney temptress Mildred Rogers, a vile specimen who cruelly - and protractedly - abuses the affections of a sensitive, artistic, clubfooted young medical student."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2324, 04-08-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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