Inflammation is defined as the first response of the immune system to infection, injury or irritation. It is characterized by redness, heat, swelling, pain, and dysfunction. There are two main components involved in the inflammatory process, one is exudative and the other is cellular. Continue reading →

Dispelling the myths behind frequent meals and why eating three meals a day with no snacks is the healthiest option.

It’s estimated that 80 per cent of diets fail because people give in to food cravings. Regardless of which weight-loss plan you follow the desire to snack invariably overwhelms even the most ardent and determined dieter and although you may feel these hunger pangs originate in your stomach, the food cravings and desire to snack actually originate in your brain. An imbalance in chemical messengers tricks you into feeling hunger pangs even though your body doesn’t really need more food. And to add insult to injury, this same imbalance results in more of that snack being turned into fat! Continue reading →

The normal flora synthesize and excrete vitamins which can be absorbed as nutrients by their host. For example, in humans, enteric bacteria secrete Vitamin K and Vitamin B12, and lactic acid bacteria produce certain B-vitamins.

The normal flora prevent colonization by pathogens by competing for attachment sites or for essential nutrients. This is thought to be their most important beneficial effect, which has been demonstrated in the oral cavity, the intestine, the skin, and the vaginal epithelium. In some experiments, germ-free animals can be infected by 10 Salmonella bacteria, while the infectious dose for conventional animals is near 106 cells. Continue reading →