Probiotics- Dr. Stephen Boyce talks about the benefits of taking a probiotic supplement

Probiotics help weight loss surgery patients

Chances are you’ve heard this word, but you might be wondering what exactly are probiotics and how do they help weight loss surgery patients?

Probiotics are live microorganisms that live in the human digestive system. They are sometimes referred to as the “good” bacteria because they are important in keeping the “bad” bacteria or “illness causing” bacteria under control. The digestive system naturally contains more than 500 types of bacteria.

Dr. Stephen Boyce, a board certified bariatric surgeon and the developer of Bari Life Bariatric Supplements recognizes the benefits of probiotics for weight loss surgery patients.

Benefits may include preventing diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome, lowering bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol levels while supporting normal digestion. Major surgery (like weight loss surgery), stress, antibiotics, illness, and poor nutrition can deplete the body’s natural supply of probiotics.

Prevent Diarrhea
Yes, we all experience this unpleasant upset at some time or another, whether it’s after taking antibiotics or eating something that your digestive track isn’t used to. Studies suggest that taking probiotics make it less likely you’ll develop diarrhea, and, if you do get it, you may suffer through fewer episodes.

Reboot Digestion
Most of us experience digestive issues from time to time, often because we’re not eating enough fiber. In studies, probiotics have reduced bloating and increased the number of bowel movements.

Boost Heart Health
Evidence shows that taking probiotics lowers bad (LDL) and total cholesterol by reducing molecules linked to saturated fat. One study found that people who consumed a strain of probiotics found in dairy and meat lowered LDL by more than 12% and reduced overall cholesterol by 9%. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, so it’s critical to learn all the tools you can use to protect it.

Taking probiotics is believed to restore healthful bacteria after the digestive system has been disrupted.

“Current research tells us that prescribing probiotics for our bariatric patients after surgery can provide many benefits. I believe that probiotics significantly improves the health of my patients after surgery. I’ve seen the positive effects probiotics have on my patients”—Dr. Stephen Boyce

Probiotics can be found in foods like Greek yogurt, soft cheeses, sweet acidophilus milk, buttermilk, tempeh (a soybean-based patty often used in Indonesian dishes) and miso soup. Supplements generally contain a much more concentrated supply of probiotics, providing a few million to billions of active cultures per dose. For optimal health benefits it is important to use probiotic supplements that contain multiple species of lactobacillus, such as L. acidophilus or bifidobacteria, as strains of these probiotics have been shown to improve digestion and have an extensive safety record for use in the generally healthy population.

A study performed at Stanford University School of Medicine indicates that supplementing weight loss surgical patients with probiotics may be beneficial for maximizing weight loss. After three months, the participants who had taken a daily probiotic supplement had higher average weight loss and improved absorption of vitamin B12. Additionally, probiotics, particularly lactobacillus acidophilus, may help lactose digestion in lactose-intolerant individuals, a common problem for post bariatric patients.

Furthermore, Dr. Boyce reveals, “After researching probiotics, once again I found that the over the counter options for my patients were limited and expensive. Through Bari Life we were able to create a shelf stable multi-probiotic blend manufactured in the US by a GMP and TGA certified nutraceutical manufacturing company and offer this complete formula to our bariatric patients at a much more affordable price.  Bari life multi-probiotics contain eight different bacteria per capsule, totaling 15 billion CFU’s and only one capsule is needed daily to restore the normal balance of bacteria in the digestive system.”

Bari Life Bariatric Supplements also offers the only bariatric multivitamin formula that meets or exceeds the 2013 updated ASMBS vitamin supplement guidelines IN ONE BOTTLE.  Bari Life Bariatric Supplements’ goal is to provide high quality, complete and affordable products designed specifically for the weight loss surgical patient.

Dr. Boyce stresses, “The ASMBS guidelines are really important.  These guidelines were established by combining the most recent findings of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), The Obesity Society (TOS), and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).”

To your health!
The Bari Life Team
Bari Life provides high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven to help the post bariatric surgery patient.
Order Online Here www.barilife.com
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Healthy Living Apps for The Real World

Bari Life Vitamins is always looking for things to make your life easier. There are so many things to keep up with on any given day and we understand the little things can make a difference! 

With that in mind, we share from the online magazine Healthy Living for The Real World (www.hellawella.com) a great way to keep up with your food intake, Mobile Food Diary Apps!

With our hyper busy and on the go world, these food journals keep up at least with this one 'todo'.

All of these apps:

• Count Calories
• Track Your Daily Caloric Intake
• Help Manage Your Nutrition

'DOUBLE' The Fun Fact! Did you know a study in the Journal of Preventative Medicine showed that logging your food intake doubled weight loss?

This study is one of the largest and longest running weight loss studies completed. Funded by The National Institutes of Health this study was initiated to help recommend food journaling as a strategy for losing and maintaining a healthy weight.

The favorite app seems to be SparkPeople. It is extremely easy to use and includes, healthy recipes, food details, exercise video demos, and even daily healthy motivational quotes!

But please, as your tracking your food diary, don't forget to include some of the delicious Bari Life products, specifically made for your healthy weight. Bari Life also offers a simple all in one bottle vitamin formula to help make your journey toward a healthier self easy!

Our favorite Bari Life Vitamin product this week is Bari Life's Orange MultiVitamin Powder. Are you sick and tired of taking all sorts of vitamin and mineral supplements, all day, everyday? Dr. Boyce has developed a unique vitamin formulation in a powder format that allows you to easily DRINK your vitamins.

To your health!
The Bari Life Team
Bari Life is high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven supplements to help in post bariatric surgery.
Order Online Here www.barilife.com 

Understanding the importance of bariatric vitamins

Bari Life promotes good health!

Taking bariatric vitamins post bariatric surgery is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Bariatric vitamins are vital to ensuring your body gets the proper amount of nutrients following surgery.

Obesity and weight loss surgery

In addition to treating type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, weight loss surgery may also help alleviate sleep apnea, joint problems, asthma, and infertility issues. Obesity, finally recognized as a disease in the United States, continues to rise at epidemic proportions. Consider some of the statistics:

• An estimated 93 million Americans are affected by obesity
• Obese individuals are at higher risks for impaired mobility and experience a negative social stigma
• Low-income minority populations tend to experience obesity at higher rate and are more likely to be overweight

Your decision to have weight loss surgery may just be the most important life-changing and life-saving decision you will ever make.

Bariatric Vitamins Assist Post Surgery Challenges

It is not uncommon to not feel hungry following weight loss surgery. You possibly could go for several weeks or months having very little appetite. This is one reason why it is vital to take your bariatric vitamins.

Communicating with your physician is imperative as you begin your post weight loss surgery journey. Your doctor will want to know what you are eating, when you are eating, and how much you are eating, and when you are taking your vitamins, among other things. You may want to invest in a food journal to help you track what you are eating, how much, and any feelings – physical or mental – associated with your meals.

If you find that you have very little appetite, you may need to find ways to prompt yourself to eat. For example, you may want to enlist the aid of triggers such as setting the alarm on your clock or mobile phone to remind you when it is time to eat.

Along with making sure you eat throughout the day, you also want to make sure you are taking the appropriate amounts of bariatric vitamins and supplements. Some patients experience difficulty swallowing tablet forms of vitamins. Rest assured, there are alternatives including a powder form, allowing you to drink your bariatric vitamins.

To your health!
The Bari Life Team
Bari Life is high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven supplements to help in post bariatric surgery.
Order Online Here www.barilife.com

Bari Life Bariatric Vitamins and Supplements Supports Your Good Health

Bari Life supports your good health!

Vitamins and supplements are essential to good health. Post bariatric surgery, it is even more important to ensure you are getting the required daily amount of essential vitamins and supplements. Failure to do so could result in devastating health consequences.

Following bariatric surgery, you will be consuming smaller portions of food and, thus, less nutrients. However, your body still requires a certain amount of vitamins and supplements to stay healthy.
Of course, managing post-operative health begins with pre-operative education assessing nutrient status to determine any pre-existing nutrition deficiencies. The ASMBS provides a recommended pre-surgical nutrition assessment that includes:

• Anthropometrics
• Weight history
• Medical history
• Physical activity
• Dietary intake
• Psychosocial factors

The information gathered during the nutrition assessment is essential in determining needed vitamins and supplements post bariatric surgery. You will be consuming less foods and, in so doing, you also will be consuming less nutrients important for good health. Because your body may be unable to absorb certain vitamins and minerals, you risk developing adverse health conditions including: 

•  Diarrhea
• Anemia due to deficiency of iron or vitamin B12
• Neurologic complications from vitamin B12 deficiency
• Kidney stone disease due to changes in how the body absorbs calcium and oxalate
• Possible bone disease due to mineral or vitamin D deficiency

The easiest method to support your nutrition would be to increase your vitamins and supplement intake post bariatric surgery. This, of course, should go hand-in-hand with developing an overall healthier diet and exercise program.  

Furthermore, it is important to be mindful of how you store your vitamins and dietary supplements. High humidity found in bathrooms as well as kitchens may be degrading the vitamins and dietary supplements kept in those rooms as well as whether or not the lids are on tight. Crystalline substances, such as vitamin C and some forms of vitamin B, as well as other nutritional supplements, are susceptible to a process known as deliquescence, whereby humidity results in a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Storing your supplements far away from warm, humid environments will help ensure their effectiveness.

Most importantly, you will want to make sure to have regular check-ups with your doctor post bariatric surgery to make sure your body continues to absorb the appropriate amount of nutrients to help you stay healthy as you are losing weight and adapting to your new diet and exercise lifestyle.

To your health! 

The Bari Life Team
Bari Life is high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven supplements to help in post bariatric surgery. 

Order Online Here www.barilife.com

Bari Life Bariatric Supplements offers thoughts on Vitamin K

Bari Life Bariatric Supplements and Vitamins promotes good health.

Bari Life Bariatric Supplements’ co-founder Dr. Stephen Boyce often gets asked about the vitamin K in Bari Life multivitamin bariatric supplements. All Bari Life Bariatric Supplements and Vitamins meet and exceed all American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) guidelines. In addition, Dr. Boyce offers his thoughts on the benefits of Vitamin K for post bariatric surgery patients. 

What is Vitamin K?

 

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin necessary for post-translational modification of certain proteins required for blood coagulation (clotting), and in metabolic pathways in bone and other tissue.  Patients may develop deficiencies after operations that produce malabsorption and the clinical practice guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), The Obesity Society (TOS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) recommend that patients supplement their diet with at least 160 micro grams of vitamin K daily. 

Some patients with blood clotting disorders are at risk for developing dangerous blood clots in their veins (deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolization) after weight loss surgery.  These patients are usually treated with medications such as Coumadin or Warfarin (anticoagulants) to try to prevent the development of these blood clots.

Patients on these anticoagulants should not take vitamin K containing supplements without the consent of their physician and surgeons because vitamin K will interfere with the effectiveness of Coumadin and Warfarin, making their blood thicker.  Other factors that can affect these anticoagulant medications are vitamin K containing foods such as green leafy vegetables. 

Benefits of Vitamin K for Post Bariatric Surgery Patients

 

Patients who require these anticoagulants usually achieve safe levels of blood thinning (determined by checking blood work, PT/INR) by balancing the amount of vitamin K in their diet with the dose of anticoagulants they are taking.  The problem for our patients is that the diet they are on for months after weight loss surgery has no vitamin K in it.  If they take anticoagulants such as Coumadin of Warfarin their blood will become dangerously thin leading to life threatening post-operative bleeding complications. 

By starting my patients on Bari Life bariatric supplements I am assured that the patient is getting the same amount of vitamin K daily making post-operative resumption of Coumadin or Warfarin safe and effective. Bari Life multivitamin bariatric supplements contain 240 micro grams of vitamin K in a daily dose (six tablets or two powder scoops) and are fully compliant with the clinical practice guidelines of the AACE, TOS and the ASMBS.

To your health!
The Bari Life Team
Bari Life is high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven supplements to help in post bariatric surgery.
Order Online Here www.barilife.com

Bari Life's Tips to Stop Food Cravings

Bari Life Vitamins puts you on the road to healthy!

At Bari Life Vitamins, we know how hard it can be to overcome your addiction to junk food. Post bariatric surgery, it's important to develop new eating habits, which can be challenging for someone with a busy lifestyle.

Let’s face it – eating desserts and high carb options have become a staple in Americans' diets. It seems like there are more drive-thrus, ice cream shops, and fast food delivery services popping up every day.

Here are ways to combat unhealthy cravings. Follow these tips to get you back on a healthy eating plan:

• Examine what foods you are craving: Do you have a strong desire for dairy items, sugar, or salty foods? If certain foods seem to be on your list of cravings, it may be your body’s way of telling you that it needs a particular ingredient. This can be due to a vitamin or mineral deficiency or from poor nutrition. It's important to keep up with your bariatric vitamins and supplements routine to ensure you are getting the daily recommended amounts of nutrients.

• Keep a food journal: Document your daily food intake. In addition, include cravings you are having and note the time of day you seem to have the cravings. If you notice a pattern of craving particular types of junk foods at specific times of the day, you may want to discuss it with your health care provider in order to rule out any possible deficiencies.

• Carry healthy snacks with you: If you find yourself being tempted by that fast food restaurant you pass by every day on your way to and from work, keep a stash of healthy snacks in your car, purse, or bag pack. When you get the urge to veer into the fast food parking lot, grab one of your healthy snacks instead and be proud of yourself for resisting the fast food temptation. 

• Remove soda from your beverage intake: Regular and even diet and caffeine- free sodas are empty calories filled with all things that are no good for your body. Stopping all at once may prove difficult and, if so, begin decreasing the amount of soda you consume by replacing a few drinks here and there with a healthier option such as water. Continue substituting other drinks for soda until you are able to completely eliminate this item from your diet.

• Don’t use food as a reward: In the past, you may have rewarded yourself for a job well done by indulging in unhealthy foods. Post bariatric surgery, you need to find other types of rewards. For instance, instead of the $10 or $15 you would have spent eating out, put that money in a vacation fund account or a new clothes fund account. Think about how much better it will feel to reward yourself with a weekend getaway to the beach in your new smaller size bathing suit! 

Remember, the longer you go without eating the food that you crave, the less you will crave it! Patience, persistence and maintaining a positive attitude will help you steer clear of your cravings and stay on the road to a healthy eating lifestyle.

To your health!

The Bari Life Team

Bari Life Bariatric Vitamins formulates high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven to help the pre and post bariatric surgery patient.
Order Online Here www.barilife.com

Healing after Bariatric Surgery

Bari Life’s Bariatric Supplements ensure healthy recovery after post bariatric surgery. With so many over the counter bariatric vitamin options and such limited information available, the only true source for answers are the actual Bariatric Doctors themselves.

Dr. Stephen Boyce M.D. of Bari Life has set the standard in custom multivitamins  or the Post Bariatric Patient. Bari Life is a select arrangement of the nutrients your body specifically needs to overcome the massive changes it has undergone.  

Extreme weight loss surgery options and post surgery care are real concerns for thousands of Americans everyday. Bari Life was created by one of the top weight loss surgeons in the world, Dr. Stephen Boyce M.D., to satisfy a need he saw far too often during his 20 years in his bariatric surgery practice. The eating habits of many of his patients left them on an endless loop of weight loss and weight gain with poor recovery times. Even worse, due to erratic body weight and previous crash diet attempts, patients’ bodies were not receiving the nutrients needed for proper living especially after weight loss surgery. In essence their bodies were working against them.

Seeing this phenomenon again and again, Bari Life was created to focus on the proper nutritional education of the public which culminated in a very specific, post surgery, healthy living, product line. Dr. Boyce M.D. introduced his patients to his new recovery program as a part of his entire medical package. What is truly amazing about this product is all your needs are in 1 bottle and in that 1 bottle it meets and exceeds the recommended dosages from the ASMBS.

With incredible results from his career as a bariatric surgeon and a deep understanding of the psychology behind weight loss and weight gain, Bari Life’s custom multivitamins are designed to be simple, affordable and effective for everyone.

Visit us today at www.barilife.com for great post-Bariatric, extreme weight-loss and post-op nutritional options.

For more information on how weight loss surgery and healthy living can help break the obesity trend, check out our friends at www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/mothers-obesity-surgery-may-help-break-cycle-in-kids/story-fneuzlbd-1226651780898

To your health! 
The Bari Life Team 
Bari Life is high quality bariatric vitamins that are clinically proven supplements to help in post bariatric surgery. Order Online Here www.barilife.com