Hi Daystar

It is quite possible that during your travel in SE Asia you might taken contaminated water and or food thereby introducing harmful and pathogenic bacteria into your digestive system. Unless you were presecibed appropriate Antibiotics by the foreign doctors, it is possible that these harmful bacteria may still be in the GI tract. Please be aware too that there are also many pathogenic bacteria that are beginning to be Antibiotic resistant.

It might be harmful to try a course of probiotics - "agents for life" as against Antibiotics - "against all life". We all need friendly flora in our digestive system and probiotics is really lactic bacteria which help in breakdown of food and its absorption. Furthermore, lactic bacteria produces natural Antibiotics that ate anti-septic to many pathogenic bacteria for example H pylori. There is one lactobacilli - Enterococcus faecalis TH 10 that in invitro tests have shown that it could inhibit MRSA, VRSA, E coli 0157 (all Antibiotic resistant bacteria) and H pylori.

The probiotic should be 100% live to ensure bacteria count and of multi-strains. Different bacteria works at different regions of the GI tract. They should be both colonizing (permanent) and transient as the colonizing strains prevent recurrence and re-colonizing by harmful bacteria. They should be protected from the strong stomach acids when ingested so that they can be released in the intestines. Because of these functions, probiotic is know becoming aceepted as the body's second immune system.

Probiotic is neither a drug nor a herb and most government health agencies classify them as a food. Major nutrition companies now accept that they boost the immune system and good for the digestive system. Nestle (Switzerland) and Abbot Laboratories (USA) amongst others have added them to baby formulae. Mother's milk contain lactobacilli bifidus and babies fed on mother's milk are generally stronger and healthier with a better immune system and less susceptible to infection and digestive disorders.

The Medical Association of Britain has reported that 95% of all chronic illnesses arose from a poor or unhealthy digestive system. Wtih a good digestive system, the pressure on the other organs such as liver and kidneys are also reduced. Countless users in Asia have benefited from the use of a good probiotic.

Of course, coupled with the use of probiotic you must have a healthy diet, lots of water (at least 8 glasses a day) and exercise. Nothing can replace this for a healthy body!

I hope this is useful and helpful but if you want more info, leave me your email address and I can contact you.

Take care n keep well

Hi DayStar......
Sounds like you've got some work ahead of you, but take it one step at a time. The weight gain you speak of may actually be from the growth of parasites in your system. It may seem hard to believe, but some of them reproduce and grow very quickly when conditions are right. I was going to do the 8 Day Ultimate Fast, but just ordered the FitLine Basic PLUS cleanse. It has a combination of colon/bowel cleanse, as well as parasite cleanse. I'll do a full series of parasite cleanse after that, then liver/gall bladder cleanse, and finally kidney cleanse. Richard gave good advice as far as re-introducing beneficial organisms. If you have a health food store nearby, look for a product called FOS. It should be live-culture, and will help re-establish transient and colonizing flora back into your digestive system. After using the FOS for about a week, start to introduce live-culture acidophilus. The FOS will make it much easier for the acidophilus to do their job, and they too will flourish. I had a fullness/bloating after the first time I finished a colon/bowel cleanse, and used clear, purified, warm- water enema (3 days) followed by coffee enema (3 days) with great results. I have a friend that used Black-Walnut Hull tinture (1-2 Tablespoons per 2-quart bag) enema to kill off parasites with great results, and that also was after a colon/bowel cleanse/internal parasite cleanse. Best of results to you, and take it day by day.....you CAN fix this!!!