Modern advances bring modern conveniences, but unfortunately, they often bring toxins right along with them. In fact, we are exposed to over a hundred toxins each day from food, air, water, personal care products, cleaning products and even the furniture and carpets in our homes. In today’s environment, the importance of keeping our immunity strong and helping our bodies to detoxify becomes critical.
Food, illness, disease, internal and external toxins, stress, age and more all eat away at the stored enzymes and beneficial bacteria you need in your gut to create your immunity, digest your food and give you health and vitality. When you’re sick, stressed or not feeling your best, you are even more susceptible to toxins and germs because these things can use up the valuable energy your body needs to restore and heal itself.
In the past few years, you’ve probably noticed a plethora of new products springing up advertising themselves as “probiotic,” from supplements to yogurts to smoothies, fermented foods and more. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “Probiotics are live microorganisms (in most cases, bacteria) that are similar to beneficial microorganisms found in the human gut. They are also called “friendly bacteria” or “good bacteria.” Probiotics are available to consumers mainly in the form of dietary supplements and foods. They can be used as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).”
Many of today’s “fermented foods” are often pasteurized and full of sugar and white vinegar and they often start with sub-standard ingredients, which means the fermented food has little nutritional value. A California based company, real food.real life, is changing the paradigm in the name of good health. “We believe that in order to achieve your best health, you need to start with the highest quality whole food ingredients. We’ve gone back to premier ancient fermentation methods to bring you the best nutrition AND the best probiotics for your health,” explains Tamara Yapp, CEO and founder.
Yapp fairly gushes when she talks about probiotics and the fermentation process. It’s clear she is very passionate about the subject and with good reason. It all started when, at 18 months of age, Yapp’s once healthy baby boy, CJ, started to slip backwards. He stopped interacting with his parents and was eventually diagnosed as autistic. Yapp researched and tried everything she could find to “cure” CJ’s autism, including taking him from one renowned, expensive doctor after another.
Then one day, she learned about the power of fermented foods and liquids, which are full of probiotics. These potent, pre-digested foods were like a miracle for CJ’s digestive system. Adding probiotic foods to his diet profoundly healed his gut and enabled him to get the nutrients he needed from food. He started to grow and he started to interact with his family again, check more helpful hints.
“But still, I wondered, how can I support others, so that they don’t have to go through what I did? I’ve spent a fortune of money and a mountain of time finding answers. My mission is to make your journey much easier. Just like me, I’m sure you’d do anything or spend anything to keep your children healthy and my goal is to shorten the learning curve,” Yapp says.
To that end, Yapp started experimenting with different fermented foods and finally created her real food.real life line. “Our foods are produced under the strictest standards for organics in a setting where no bad bacteria can get in. These good bacteria have been naturally inoculated to survive; radiation, illness, temperature changes and even the effects of birth control pills,” she explains.
During the fermentation process, real food.real life’s ingredients are predigested by the good bacterias and yeast, making all the nutrients and proteins easily absorbed and utilized by the body immediately upon drinking. The only way to make the nutrients and proteins bio-available is by fermentation. Because it is predigested, it is very easy to assimilate and allows you to absorb nearly all of the nutrients and proteins that are present.
Yapp offers a long list of the benefits of her fermented foods, which she says start working almost instantly:
- Helps to build and strengthen your immune system
- Re-colonizes the gut with beneficial bacteria and yeasts
- Aids in digestion and absorption of other nutrients
- Loaded with active friendly bacteria
- Available source of protein, carbs and iron
- Boosts energy
- Certified organic
- Naturally fermented = predigested
- Great source of fiber
- Casein free – Dairy free
- Full of beneficial enzymes and 18 amino acids
- No sugar
- Safe for all ages
- Made only from food
- Made from gluten free grains
- Natural source of iodine
- Ph balanced
- and the list goes on…
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The company offers liquids and powders. The liquids are designed to provide an abundance of enzymes, amino acids, and healthy bacteria to replenish the beneficial gut bacteria you lose daily. The living beneficial bacteria in the fermented liquids could also help eliminate bad bacteria and yeast in the mouth on their way down to work in your gut and colon (you’re supposed to “swish” it before you swallow it).
Their Organic Pro-Belly-Otic is an enzyme-rich probiotic drink created to help you digest and absorb the nutrients from everything you eat. “Gradually increasing your serving size and frequency will allow you to continuously replace your necessary gut bacteria,” advises Yapp. It comes in three flavors: Grapefruit, Lime Mint and Great Grains. Yapp allowed me to taste and try some of her products personally, including Pro-Belly-Otic (all three flavors), her Organic Green Rhino drink (an adult-only energizer containing the herbal stimulant guarana) and the powders.
The tastes of the liquids are a bit unusual and take a little getting used to, in my opinion. They sort of remind me of beer in a way and I’m not a beer drinker, but I found the grapefruit flavor to be my favorite. What’s more important is the effect on my system. The labels advise you to “start out slowly” and add more “as needed.” I started with just one ounce of the liquid Pro-Belly-Otic about two weeks ago and at first didn’t notice much more than increased energy. But here’s where the magic happened: after using the liquid for a little under two weeks, I have completely changed my digestion. I’m not one to openly discuss my “tummy troubles,” but I will say that while some people’s stress causes them headaches, mine causes stomach problems. In under two weeks of drinking the Pro-Belly-Otic (interchanging with Green Rhino), I have absolutely no stomach issues.
Having been under some serious stress recently – moving FOUR times in a matter of months – let’s just say my stomach was feeling the brunt of it. I am truly thrilled and amazed at how I’m feeling today.
I admit I haven’t tried the powders yet, but according to their literature, the company’s fermented powders provide a broad spectrum of probiotics, vitamins, minerals and predigested amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins in your cells. In other words, they are the building blocks of life. When you eat unfermented protein, your body must break it down into amino acids in order to use it, which these days – due to loss of digestive health – is difficult for many people.
“With our powders, that work is already done, so your body can focus on getting healthy,” Yapp maintains.
Organic Pro-Daily-Otic offers a daily balance of greens, grains, sea vegetables and algae for a satisfying blend of amino acids.
Organic Pro-Amino-Otic is enhanced with more fermented algae to provide you an abundance of amino acids that can help sustain you longer and give you more energy, according to Yapp.
Powders and liquids can be used together synergistically, as the liquids prepare your body to receive the nutrition from the powders.
There is a quote that says we spend all of our youth in pursuit of money at the expense of our health and then all of our old age spending money to recover our health. “The most important thing to decide is that you are worth the investment in your health right now. In a world of cheap food made of cheap ingredients, chronic, incurable illness seems to constantly rise,” says Yapp. “Our mission is to provide real food with the highest quality ingredients so that we can contribute to your best health. It costs more to do this, but we think you’re worth it! And remember, a little goes a long way, so the daily per-serving cost of our products is very affordable.”