The Chinese New Year is just around the corner. It is a happy occasion for family reunions, and to enjoy delicious food and drinks. How can one enjoy good food while maintaining good health?
Dr. Chia Boon Tat, one of the founders of Freshwerkz Pte Ltd, recommends increasing the intake of high-fiber foods and including probiotics in one’s diet can help maintain a healthy digestive tract.
Well, the answer lies in the “Human Microbial Microbial Therapy” which has been listed by the World Economic Forum as one of the top ten emerging technologies in 2014. And Freshwerkz’s products are based on this technology.
Reporter: How can we enjoy good food while maintaining good health during the New Year?
Dr. Chia: Have you ever wondered why our ancestors did not suffer from “unhealthy eating” when medicine was not developed in ancient times? They make a living by hunting animals and collecting fruits. They would hunt different animals, harvest different fruits on different days. And sometimes when they couldn’t catch anything, they went hungry. This meant that their intermittent fasting habits and a wide variety of options allowed for their microflora in their guts to be more diverse than ours.
Some people say that a diverse intestinal flora is equal to health, because these bacteria can provide us with a variety of very important nutrients and functional substances that cannot be produced by our body cells. Nourishing the intestinal flora through a varied diet is one of the ways to be healthy.
So my suggestion is that after feasting during the New Year (or any festive celebration), it is best to fast, or reduce the amount of food, and switch to fruits and vegetables. If you are really full, try probiotics to aid digestion.
Reporter: There are good and bad bacteria, how can we increase the good bacteria in the stomach?
Dr. Chia: The intestinal bacteria need food to continue life like we do. Some bacteria like fried things, and these bacteria are usually harmful to the body. If these bad bacteria in the stomach form the majority, they will make people crave for fried food. And by feeding these bad bacteria, they will overwhelm the good bacteria.
To maintain good gastrointestinal health, we need to replenish the food that the good bacteria require. Prebiotics are the food for these bacteria. Prebiotics are plant-based dietary fiber that cannot be digested in food. These dietary fibers are digested and broken down by intestinal probiotics, and short-chain fatty acids are produced during the digestion process, which provides the nutritional needs of the intestinal cells and also improves our immune system.
When feasting, it is recommended to eat 1 or 2 ProVie G before or after meals. It not only provides probiotics and prebiotics, but also diversify the flora in the stomach and intestines. ProVie G is a plant-based prebiotic and probiotic supplement that we have developed using innovative biotechnology. It includes probiotics, prebiotics, and plants like bitter gourd and moringa.
The juice of bitter gourd contains bitter melon glycosides and insulin-like substances, which have a good blood sugar lowering effect. Moringa leaves can reduce cholesterol in human serum, liver and kidneys, and increase serum proteins.
There are 3 major effects of taking Provie G:
1. The plant nutrients works almost immediately, because the fermented bitter gourd and moringa are more easily digested and absorbed.
2. The probiotics in Provie G will take effect within a few hours or a day.
3. Prebiotics can promote coliform bacteria and produce short-chain fatty acids, which will take effect in 3 or 4 days, up to one week.
Over a period of time, Provie G supports a healthy level of glucose and cholesterol. However, people with low blood pressure and low blood sugar should be cautious when taking Provie G, as a lower-than-normal blood pressure or blood sugar may cause dizzy spells.