A Little Known Secret by Mark Sanford

      Maybe it was just a correlation between events that opened my eyes.  My septic system, being twenty years old, was slowing down.  That is, it was running slower than it should and everything in the house was backing up.  After much research and work, the system was back on line and doing the job.  I found out that, especially older septics must have a generous supply of active bacteria in the tank in order to break down the solids.  When the bacteria level drops to low, because of detergents and antibacterial soaps, the septic system will slowly die! 

     It occurred to me, sometime later, when my son had a bad intestinal virus, that there is a correlation between our bodies and that slow septic system of mine.  My son had gotten over the virus, but as he put it – “I just am not the same as before the sickness.” It was then that I realized that the virus had destroyed the so-called “friendly bacteria” in my son’s intestinal tract.  He was unable to digest food properly and it was making him irregular, gassed up, crampy and all those wild symptoms of IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  So, after even more research, I found that over 75% of our immune system is in our colon – large and small and if the active friendly bacteria is not in our colon we will suffer a host of ailments ranging from mild IBS to cancer!  Hmm, that old septic system is in need of a restart. 

     Medical researchers were at a loss to explain why Russia had more people over the age of 100 than most countries put together, until they realized that the Russian diet is one of the highest in fermented foods.  You see, fermentation causes active culture or friendly bacteria in foods.  Eating such things as yogurt ( active not pasteurized ), Sour Kraut, or any natural yeast foods will maintain the active culture in a person’s intestinal tract and insure proper digestion.  But there is more to the story than just good digestion.  Researchers are now realizing that since the intestinal tract controls most of your immune system, an active tract prevents not only IBS but may prevent most of the major diseases – such as cancer.  The jury is still out on this, but it only stands to reason that any disease can take hold when your immunity is too low.

     We immediately placed our son on Dannon active yogurt with active culture and within a few days he was back to normal.  Now, he tells me that he is better than before!  His endurance is climbing and he feels great!  I told my wife that I was convinced of what was lacking in our diets – active cultures.  So, we ( and any person I can convince), are eating one small, good tasting Dannon yogurt per day.  My digestion, including bowels, is like it was when I was 15 years old.  I am a jogger and, I am not exaggerating, my pulse rate after a 2-mile run is about 84.  I have never had a pulse rate that low after a work out.  My wife’s mild IBS is gone and she swears by her “little bugs”. 

     I don’t know if we will live to be 100, but I do know, now, that the American diet is lacking in one of the most important areas of human health – active cultures.