When the intestinal tract doesn’t do its job, your life can be disrupted by digestive problems. But some simple remedies can help your body’s intestines eliminate wastes, avoid constipation and support the colon’s detoxification duties.

Some of the most common digestive issues are simply messages that your colon needs more friendly bacteria — beneficial microbes known as probiotics that inhabit the intestinal tract. If you continually burp or belch, are troubled by constipation or diarrhea or bloat after eating, the root of your difficulties may be an imbalance of bacteria in the intestines.

You see, life in the intestinal interior is a microscopic population balancing act teetering between colonies of friendly health-enhancing bacteria that produce vitamins and boost immunity and detrimental invasive pathogens that can inflame the body and cause illness. The friendly, probiotic bacteria also help you absorb nutrients and keep the pathogens in check.  When they decline, you can’t properly digest food and eliminate waste. As a result, you are more susceptible to emitting embarrassing digestive noises. You also may be more likely to fall victim to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and parasites.

Bad Bacteria

Several factors can help the bad bacteria grow: Eating processed foods and sugary snacks encourages their spread. Aging can also make you more susceptible to their advances. In addition, taking drugs like antibiotics can kill off the friendly microorganisms and allow the mischievous microbes to navigate to problematic parts of the alimentary canal.

You can replenish your probiotics with supplements and by eating fermented foods like yogurt, miso, tempeh, sauerkraut, pickles and some cheeses. But it’s especially important to take probiotics before, during and after a round of antibiotics. Just don’t take the supplements at the same time as the antibiotics and take your supplements with food.

Research shows that taking probiotic supplements can:

• Help control diarrhea.
• Lower the risk of vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections.
• Reduce incidences of IBS.
• Ease inflammation after colon surgery.
• Stop eczema in children.

Drink To Your Health

If you’re looking for another simple intervention for intestinal inconveniences, look no further than water, an amazing “colon juice” that practically guarantees healthy and regular bowel elimination. You need water for just about every bodily function and that includes digestion and elimination.

“We have an increased need for water because our diets contain mostly processed, low-water-content food, and our bodies need the extra to help flush out all the toxins we’re taking in,” says Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald in The Detox Solution.

If you sip (No guzzling!) pure water throughout your day you increase your body’s ability to efficiently absorb it and use it in “diluting toxins and waste products and escorting them out of the body” while “protecting the internal surfaces of your digestive tract and other systems,” Fitzgerald observes.

Experts say you should drink about six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Some feel that nine glasses are even more beneficial.

Like most natural, preventive-health solutions, taking probiotics and drinking more water don’t cure acute illness, they support your body’s efforts to detox itself and stay well. These simple techniques aren’t high-tech or glitzy, but by keeping your friendly intestinal bacteria at full strength and your water supply free-flowing you significantly boost your chances of keeping disease at bay.