Good bugs? Is there such a thing?

We are used to thinking of bugs as being a problem; we wash our hands to clean off the bugs, we avoid sick people so we don’t catch their bugs, but now there is a nutritional supplement that is recommended for good health and it involves taking capsules or tablets full of…you guessed it, bugs!

In the intestines there are approximately 100 trillion micro-organisms (that’s 11 zeros!) some are good, some are neutral and some are just plain bad. The good bugs are called probiotics. As well as keeping some of the bad bugs in check, they do many essential and helpful jobs for us. For example, they produce certain vitamins for us and help with the breakdown and absorption of foods. Probiotics also play an important role in healthy immune function. By ‘talking’ to the immune system in our gut, probiotics assist our immune system to have a healthy response to invading viruses, fungi and bacteria and to not ‘over react’ to certain foods.

We receive our first probiotics during birth and then their growth is promoted by the high carbohydrates in breast milk. Unfortunately, with increasing numbers of caesarean births and fewer infants being breastfed, many children are starting life with insufficient probiotic numbers. Other factors such as antibiotic therapy and low fibre diets also reduce the numbers of our probiotic friends.

Radiance® Kids Probiotic provides 2.5 billion CFUs (live, virile, healthy probiotics) in the most unbelievably delicious berry flavoured chewable tablets! (Don’t worry mum no artificial colours, sweeteners or preservatives! No dairy either). Just one tablet a day can help support healthy immune and digestive function so your kids are better prepared to survive winter and their lunch.