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Knowing how important a good probiotic is, I have tried many different brands, each professing the max amount and strains of beneficial bacteria. Some worked well with my gut, others, not so much. The good people at Hyperbiotics were kind enough to send me a bottle of their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Perfect Probiotic. Before I get into my review, I want to give you a little information about probiotics and why you actually need them. Here's a cute little video illustrating how they work: vimeo.com Hyperbiotics explains probiotics here. Inside your gastrointestinal tract (GI) you have billions of little micro-organisms, namely bacteria, which work really hard doing some awesome stuff for your whole body. They help you digest and pull nutrients from your food. These little guys are also giving a major boost to your immune system, becoming a triple threat as they battle some bad bacteria that can cause you illness. A healthy gut is loaded with beneficial bacteria, unfortunately most of our GI tracts are not as healthy as we would like. If you've been ill recently or take antibiotics, it's especially important to get some more into you so that you can get better faster. Getting some extra help in this area can help you become more regular, digest better, pull more nutrients from your food, help regulate your metabolism and help combat fatigue. I have spent way too many years battling gastrointestinal issues. I won't go into specifics, but that is the main reason I have searched for a great probiotic. Don't even say yogurt. Sorry, not my thing. I always feel like I'm eating baby food. Then I tried Hyperbiotics PRO-15 probiotic. What's different about this one? Here's the info sheet: Cool, right? I knew about the whole 'let's see how many actually live to help you out' thing, so it's great to find something that has a much higher survival rate. It's also a really nice bonus that the pills don't need to be refrigerated - I have enough stuff in there already, and I often forget to take my vitamins because they're in the fridge and I just don't think about them. I've put this bottle in my morning line of sight, and so far I've remembered to take them each day. So enough about the product and more about me... did anything change? When I opened the bottle and took out the first two pills, I was a little dejected. I am not very good at swallowing pills. They stick in my throat, make me gag and I am generally forced to drink a whole lot of water with any pill, even the coated ones. These ones are not coated. In fact, they're the opposite of coated, gritty and chalky. So here's the shocker - they went down super easy! I have no idea how they did it, but the complete opposite of what I expected happened. So, good start. Each bottle has 30 pills, and a choice to made: take one a day for maintenance or take two or three for intense repair. Option one is great if you are a generally healthy person and are looking for just a little oomph. I decided to go with option two for two reasons: first and foremost, I have gut issues, as I've already mentioned. Accelerating the program sounded like a good idea. Secondly, I do have to get my review in within a specified amount of time, so I figured check out what the benefits are, if there are any and check out what the side effects could be. Every single brand of probiotic I took prior to this one gave me terrible gas, painful bloating, cramping and at times, truly explosive diarrhea. I know these are not things you really want to know about me, but I have to tell you that so that you can understand how surprised I am that even on the intense program none of these things happened! I'm guessing this has a whole lot to do with the time-release thing. I waited for the bomb (so to speak) and when it didn't happen I started to think that maybe it was because the pills aren't actually doing anything at all. Since I've been feeling pretty good after meals lately, I'm going to guess something is happening, and the only change I've made recently is taking these probiotics. I find that I'm not in pain with horrible gas and bloating after eating popcorn. My husband actually banned it from the house because of the horrors we encounter when eating it. But we went to the movies two nights ago and devoured a large bag between the two of us. Guess who had no popcorn-related side effects? Yup, yours truly. A second indication that something great is going on in my gut has to do with the big steak dinner I made on Saturday. Now, keep in mind I had only been taking them a couple of days at this point. Anyhow, whenever I have a large, meat-laden meal, a few things always happen: I get terrible stomach cramps, I am hungry again in a couple of hours and even if I have a snack before bed, I still wake up ravenous. This happens every single time, so I avoid heavy meaty meals if I can. I do love steak, though, and I do have to have one every now and then. On this particular occasion, however, I noticed that I wasn't hungry before bed. We had eaten that meal at about 4:30pm and here it was after 10:00pm and I noticed that I wasn't hungry at all. I mentioned it to David, and we figure that I may actually be absorbing more nutrients (finally) from my meals, and so didn't feel hungry. That is amazing. The next morning? Fine. No feeling famished. You have no idea how great this is. Unless you have to live with something, and you've resigned yourself to the fact that this is going to be your life, you have no clue how wonderful it is to feel different - normal. I have to give the credit here to Hyperbiotics and their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Probiotic. My health aside, I wanted to give a shout out to the people at Hyperbiotics. I was having some difficulty ordering them from Amazon.com because I live in Canada - apparently they were not available for shipping outside of the US. I contacted Amazon customer service and although the rep diligently tried to help me figure out why they weren't able to ship them out to me, he wasn't successful. I contacted Hyperbiotics directly and they were so quick to respond and were able to walk me step-by-step through the order process - and their patience was appreciated since I wasn't getting it the first time and contacted them a second time. Customer service is so important and I find that nowadays many companies just can't be bothered. Hyperbiotics understands that helping out a customer (even one who is getting this for free!) makes a difference. Go to amazon.com today & get your own healthy gut! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: hyperbiotics.com Product Type: probiotic supplement Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Hyperbiotics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Yesterday I Instagramed this absolutely amazing sandwich I made for dinner & promised the recipe today. It's called a Muffaletta and I first saw it on (where else?) Pinterest. I thought it looked so good and decided to give it a whirl. I was going to add herbs, garlic and olive oil to my peasant bread, but decided to bake actual focaccia instead. Before I regale you with my tale of Muffaletta, here for your perusal is the link to the focaccia recipe (which I did not change at all, it was so easy & yummy) and the muffaletta recipe (which I changed only slightly). This sandwich is super hardy and makes a great dinner, would impress when brought to a pot-luck, delight on a picnic (something that won't happen in this country for a few months) or hey, Superbowl isn't too far off! This took a looooong time to make. Mainly because I baked my own bread and that took two hours, but also because I totally forgot about the whole refrigerating and resting times need for the sandwich. All told, it took me about four hours start to finish. You can cut it down by following the steps outlined below. If you are using store-bought bread, totally ignore this and start with the actual sandwich recipe. Please note that I used dried herbs because I was out of fresh. If you happen to have them, use 2 tbsp chopped fresh.
INGREDIENTS: 1 loaf focaccia 150g hot Genoa salami 100g capicola 100g mortadella 200g proscuitto 1 pkg sliced mozzarella 1 pkg sliced provolone SPREAD: 1 cup chopped green olives (with pimiento) 1 cup chopped black olives 1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts 1 roasted red pepper, chopped 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes 4 green onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup chopped fennel 2 tsp dried parsley 2 tsp dried oregano 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 3/4 cup olive oil DIRECTIONS: Place all the spread ingredients together in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Put them in the fridge to marinate for about an hour.
Recently I saw a post in my Facebook feed for a recipe to make your own dishwasher tabs. I was intrigued. We spend a whole lot of money on dishtabs, and a more economical and chemical-free alternative sounded great. The link to the original post is here. I had to make a few changes to that recipe because once I purchased the citric acid the recipe called for, I realized just how expensive these tabs really are! So you are definitely helping the environment by cutting down on plastic, and you're helping your family by cutting down on chemicals, you're not really helping your wallet. The little bottle of citric acid I bought (which was less than 1/2 cup measured out) cost me almost $7. This recipe asked for 1-1/2 cups! That would cost $28, not exactly cheap. I also had a tough time finding 'washing soda' - so I just had to make my own for this recipe and omit it from the one I came up with myself. Nonetheless, I cut the recipe so that I could use only what I had and made 28 dishtabs successfully for an initial investment of $19, The bottle of vinegar, essential oil and box of salt all had enough left over to make the recipe (according to my quantities) at least 5 more times. As you can see, even after 24 hours of drying, not all of the tabs will come out whole. I placed the powder into a jar and use it in the pre-wash slot. DIY Natural Dishtab Recipe 1 cup washing soda 1/2 cup citric acid 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup baking soda 1/4 cup salt 10 drops essential oil 1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl (don't use metal) 2. Gradually mix in vinegar, small amounts at a time - it will foam up. 3. Mix in essential oil and pack tightly into 2 ice-cube trays. 4. Set trays in a sunny spot and allow to dry & harden for 24 hours. If you're okay with using powder over tabs, the recipe I came up with is both easier and sooo much cheaper (me likey!) and works really well. In this case you will take the chemical dependance down yet another notch, because we are no longer going to put a rinse agent bought at the store into the machine either! Your dishes will still be kinda' wet when the cycle is over, but that is easily remedied by leaving the door open and allowing them to air dry for a bit before putting them away. Trust me, your dishes will be clean and fresh without residue and it'll cost you about $12 initially - but you probably won't have to purchase any more supplies for a half a year! Pretty great for the environment, your family and your bank account! DIY Natural Dishwasher Powder Recipe
1 cup Borax 1 cup baking soda 1/2 cup salt essential oil white vinegar 1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. 2. Fill your rinse aid reservoir with vinegar. 3. Place 1 tbsp of powder mix in detergent reservoir and top with one drop essential oil. Add a 1/2 tbsp of powder to pre-wash reservoir. That's it! So quick and easy! Floss your teeth every night before going to bed. It's a healthy habit to start! And continue. Studies show that if you do something every day (or night) for a full month, it will become a habit. Flossing keeps your teeth, gums, and breath cleaner and fresher, but it also cuts down on dental costs (more $$ in your pocket) and helps you fight more serious illnesses such as diabetes, respiratory illness and heart health. Believe it or not, how healthy your mouth is matters. Random Quote for the Day
Bake fresh bread once a week. Freshly baked bread is one of the most delicious things ever! I think it's hard-wired in humans to enjoy the smell, texture, and taste of fresh bread baked at home. You can do it in the breadmaker that is covered in 3 inches of dust in your cupboard or basement, or you can make it yourself from the abundance of recipes on the internet. It doesn't have to be as difficult as it sounds. Here's a link to a recipe for bread baked the old fashioned way: farmgirlfare.com Here's a link to a super easy (and quick, bread in under 2 hours!) recipe for peasant bread, which I like to make often: buynongmoseeds.com Random Quote for the Day
Stop doing one thing that is bad for the environment. Your choice. Stop drinking bottled water this year. Use a travel mug at the coffee shop each morning. Stop littering. Use your car less. Unplug electronics when not in use. Start composting. There are so many easy ways to help out. Choose only one today and stay with it all year. Here are two great websites with 50 easy ways to become more eco-friendly: biofriendly.com 50waystohelp.com Random Quote for the Day
Hold a door open for a stranger and let them enter (or exit) ahead of you.. Random Quote for the Day
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AuthorHi! I'm Sonja and I'm glad you're here! I'm happy to share some recipes and gardening tips with you while I let you know about great (or not so great) products, services, and media I encounter. Visit my online shop at MysteriousDragonfyre.com
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