From the moment your pet takes a bite of food, the digestive progress begins. Yet this complex process of breaking down nutrients also plays a vital role in the body's natural defense system.

Every digestive system contains millions of bacteria. While some of the bacterium can be harmful, many actually help to support the healthy functions of the body. These organisms, called probiotics, help the immune system adapt to internal changes.

Many people do not realize that within the digestive system is one of the most important and largest groups of immune cells – the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT) – which communicates with the immune cells located throughout the body. In some respects, the GALT is the first line of defense in the body.

Whereas most of the cells in our body receive nutrition from the blood, this is not true for the GALT – it receives the majority of its nutrients from probiotics.

Whenever you – or your companion animal – take a course of antibiotics, it kills all of the bacteria, regardless of its ultimate effect (healthy v. unhealthy). That’s why your doctor may recommend that you eat yogurt while taking antibiotics – to re-establish the healthy bacteria in the GI tract to avoid intestinal distress.

Probiotics are necessary to maintain the healthy ecology of intestinal microbes known as the “gut flora”. The types of bacteria contained in the gut differ from species to species, and animal to animal, but there are commonalities. These helpful bacteria can have numerous positive effects on the body, including:

• Causing chemical reactions that metabolize foods into vitamins and energy

• Competing with unhealthy microorganisms, helping block their adhesion to the lining of the gut wall

• Increasing tolerance of unhealthy bacteria by stimulating the defense system

• Protecting the gut mucosal barrier, thereby promoting the health of the gut lining
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