Lemon and hot water
You recently wrote about the benefits of starting the day off with a glass of hot water and lemon, instead of coffee and tea. Can you tell me more about why this is healthy? Also, what do you think about all those little pots of so-called good bacteria (probiotics) that are being so heavily marketed. Do they make any real difference?
Lemons work hard to decongest the liver and cleanse the blood. They accelerate the digestion of fats and proteins and boost the absorption of important minerals in the body. In Chinese medicine, lemons are said to calm the nerves and the mind. They also help relieve indigestion and gas. That’s at least eight good reasons to start the day with hot water and lemon.
A natural antibacterial, lemons also kill off the bad bacteria which can disrupt digestion and cause bad breath.We all have good and bad bacteria in our guts, including organisms such as candida - which, if allowed to overgrow, can cause wide-ranging health problems. The so-called friendly bacteria are those that help the body digest food and keep the bad ones under control.
Poor nutrition, prescription drugs including antibiotics and sickness can all reduce levels of the good bacteria. The idea behind probiotic supplements is that they redress this balance by replenishing gut levels of the good bacteria.This is a great idea in theory - so great that the European market is now worth £520 million - but in reality, you might not be getting what you think.
Extensive research by UK microbiologist, Professor Jeremy Hamilton-Miller, of the Royal Free hospital in London, for example, has shown many brands not only fail to contain the strain of bacteria they promise, they frequently do not contain the numbers of replacement bacteria the manufacturer claims. In a survey of 29 probiotic products from 26 different manufacturers, he found only 12 of the supplements provided what was stated on the label.
He concluded that all too often, consumers are being ripped off and warned that you need to buy a brand where the replacement bacteria are protected during their transit through the acidic environment of the stomach otherwise the probiotic organisms will be destroyed long before they reach the colon. So, if you are buying your probiotics in capsule form, look for one that has an enteric coating to protect the active ingredient as it travels through the gut.