By Dr. Gloria Gilbere

Find out what a healthy goat has to do with a healthy gut. In an attempt to modernize certain aspects of our health, to quickly eliminate symptoms of illness in order to fulfill a hectic schedule, we forget the natural ways in which our culture used to deal with health issues. We may depend on more medically advanced but often no more effective products. This is specifically true of our digestive health.

The Mineral Connection

Minerals are incredibly important structural elements. They are the acid neutralizers of stomach acids, allowing for healthy digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Minerals support the intestinal tract by helping to create an alkaline environment that is unfriendly to bacteria and viruses. Minerals also constitute the essential make-up of tissue structure and they work in synchronicity with one another as well as with the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins. Additionally, minerals are the body's electrical transmitters. Receiving the right messages from these transmitters is vital, not only when faced with a chronic fight for health during an illness, but also in maintaining what you've fought for, after you heal. Minerals act as electrical signals to every cell through the body's fluid transmission.

Mother Nature's Source of Minerals

Since minerals are primarily stored in the body's bone and muscle tissue, they must be carried by the blood to the cells and then absorbed by cell membranes to be utilized. Today we can benefit from an ancient method of mineral supplementation: the whey from fresh goat's milk.

Goat's milk whey is sold in parts of Eastern Europe for more money per ounce than gold! Goat's milk is said to be the most like human milk of any mammal and our bodies digest it in just twenty minutes. It takes two to three hours for us to digest cow's milk because it contains far more protein and far less carbohydrates than human milk, which makes it more difficult for the body to absorb. Goat's milk whey is alkaline, essentially pre-digested, high in natural amino acids, minerals, vitamins, probiotics and digestive enzymes, and it's naturally homogenized!

If you're one of the 60 million-plus persons subjected to digestive disorders and the resulting illnesses, keep in mind what the Journal of the American Medical Association had to say: "The goat is the healthiest domestic animal known, and its milk is superior in every way to cows' milk. Goat's milk is the purest, most healthful, and most complete food known."?

The Fight for Intestinal Balance

After we've fought the first round in the quest for digestive health by providing our bodies with a foundation of minerals and electrolytes, we need to continue health building with health-enhancing bacteria called probiotics. They are found naturally in goat's and cow's milk products and can also be taken in capsule form.

What Do Probiotics Have To Do With Intestinal Health?

Everything! The human body is designed to serve as home to billions of good bacteria. These tiny warriors fight hard alongside your defense system, assisting your immune function by warding off viruses, bad bacteria and fungi.

When certain drugs (specifically antibiotics) are consumed, they kill the good and bad bacteria, leaving us vulnerable to infection and intestinal disorders.

A healthy intestine should contain approximately eighty percent friendly bacteria and twenty percent unfriendly- a critical balance for health. Any unhealthy condition may endanger the fine balance of this intestinal ecology, reducing protection of the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

A Predictable Reoccurrence

When you consume an antibiotic, it is designed to kill all types of bacteria in the G.I. tract. More often than not, due to the resulting imbalance of bacteria in your system, some type of infection manifests within six to eight weeks (cold, flu, earache, sinusitis, yeast infections) of antibiotic therapy. However, there are certainly instances where antibiotics are necessary and life-saving, and in these cases the health-depleting effects of antibiotics can be minimized by supplementing with health-enhancing probiotics after therapy.

My Favorite Anti-Antibiotic

As a doctor, researcher, and recovered victim of a life-threatening digestive disorder, I’m quite particular about the type of probiotics I use and recommend. The following are components I insist upon:

1: A natural probiotics blend containing several strains of bacteria that remain intact in the stomach en route to the intestinal tract to optimize digestion and immune functions.
2: The population count of the good bacteria must be high and microorganism strains must be viable.
3: The probiotics must be cultured to survive stomach acids and the digestive process.
4: The probiotics must be capable of forming colonies in the intestinal tract where they
aid in nutrient absorption and establish proper pH.
5: The probiotics must be able to remain in most environments within the colon
6: The probiotics must thrive in acidic conditions, which are common in digestive and chronic disorders

Now that the game plan has been outlined to deliver the winning punch for your digestive health, let the fight begin, naturally.


Dr Gloria Gilbere

Dr. Gloria Gilbere is a doctor of naturopathy and natural health, expert in environmental health and specializes in digestive, intestinal and chemically induced immune system disorders. She consults with clients around the world, both through telephone consultation and office visits at her health centers in north Idaho, USA. She is author of I Was Poisoned by My Body (Lucky Press, 2001) and Invisible Illnesses (Freedom Press, 2002). She can be reached at 360-352-3646 P.O. Box 1565 Sandpoint, ID 83864 USA Fax: (208) 265-1777