How Ski^® Activ^® can help your digestive balance

Probiotics are beneficial, or good bacteria that live in our gut. Along with things like eating fibre rich foods and exercising regularly, maintaining the right level of beneficial bacteria is important for our gut function and digestive balance.

The human gut is home to more than 50 types of bacteria. Most are good bacteria that help keep the gut healthy. The right balance between good and bad bacteria is essential to gut function and wellbeing. Illness, medications, stress, ageing or an irregular eating plan can all affect our gut and decrease the amount of good bacteria. This may allow harmful bacteria to grow.

Probiotics or good bacteria help to:

• Top up or replenish the number of good bacteria in the gut
• Reduce the growth of harmful bacteria
• Restore natural digestive balance

Probiotics are found in foods like yoghurt. Eating foods with probiotics, as part of your eating plan, helps you maintain the right balance of good bacteria in your gut. Ski^® Activ^® Digestion yoghurt contains scientifically proven probiotic Bifidus ProDigestis^™, making it an easy and delicious way to help top up your good bacteria.

The units for measuring probiotic cultures are "cfu" which stands for "Colony Forming Units". All this means is the absolute number of probiotic good bacteria that are alive, or viable, in the yoghurt at the end of shelf life. The number is usually around the billions (9 x zeros on the end).

This is one case where "more" does not necessarily equal better! An interesting fact about probiotic cultures, or good bacteria, is that they aren't all the same. Some probiotic cultures might be better at assisting with digestive balance, while some cultures have other benefits, such as supporting immunity. Just comparing the total number of one probiotic culture versus another doesn't mean that you will get more of the benefits, as the outcomes may be different. The scientifically proven Bifidus ProDigestis^™ probiotic cultures in Ski^® Activ^® Digestion yoghurt act to help restore natural digestive balance.

Probiotics help top up the good bacteria in your gut, while prebiotics help feed the probiotics. Ski^® Activ^® contains a prebiotic plant fibre called inulin that acts as a food source for the good bacteria in your gut. The addition of a prebiotic helps enhance the benefits of probiotic cultures.

Only Ski^® Activ^® low fat yoghurt has the unique combination of scientifically proven probiotic Bifidus ProDigestis^™ and a prebiotic to help restore natural digestive balance and well being — all in one delicious and convenient daily serve.

Ski^® Activ^® helps restore natural digestive balance through its unique combination of a prebiotic plus the exclusive probiotic Bifidus Prodigestis^™. This helps promote the growth of beneficial bacteria called Bifidobacterium and Lactobaccilli, found naturally in the gastro intestinal tract or gut.

It could be because your body is adjusting to a new level of good bacteria and the good vs. bad bacteria are fighting it out. Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt also contains prebiotic fibre called inulin. As with anything new, if your levels are deficient and you suddenly have a lot of it, it takes some getting used to. That's how our body works. Give yourself 14 days to trial Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt and before long, you should feel more comfortable. As always, please see your health professional for advice specific for your individual health needs.

Many people do not realise that their intestines are living organs - they actively absorb, secrete, send signals and metabolise. Balanced digestion starts with an active bacterial population naturally living in your gut. The gut of a healthy adult contains 100 trillion bacteria — approximately 10 times the number of cells in the human body! Worth looking after them, isn't it?

Ski^® Activ^® Digestion has is an enjoyable way to help assist digestive discomfort. Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt has a unique formulation of a prebiotic plus Bifidus Prodigestis^™ probiotic cultures to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, Bifidobacterium and Lactobaccilli, found naturally in the gastrointestinal tract or gut, to help restore the balance in your digestive system.

Dairy food offers a nutrient-dense package, with 10 essential nutrients. A key supply of calcium in the Australian diet, dairy also provides more protein, potassium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus per kilojoule than any other commonly consumed food. Yoghurt has been used as an easily digested dairy food for centuries.

Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt is available nationwide in Coles, Woolworths and leading independent supermarkets such as Super IGA and Foodworks.

Some signs of digestive discomfort include feelings of bloating and sluggishness, intestinal "gurgling" and feeling weighed down or "heavy".

Some common causes of digestive discomfort include a demanding lifestyle and skipping meals, stress, a low fibre or unbalanced eating plan, lack of exercise and a poor fluid intake. As always, please see your health professional for advice specific for your individual health needs.

Women tend to alter their eating habits frequently, either eating on the run or going on diets, both of which may result in signs of digestive discomfort.

Sure they do, but men in general don't openly talk about health concerns so it could be as prevalent or more prevalent — we don't know. Also, like many women when it comes to digestive discomfort, they sometimes just try to live with the symptoms or choose to ignore it.

Dr. Joanna McMillan, Nutritionist, offers these top tips for digestive wellbeing:

• Enjoy fibre rich foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals, fruit and vegetables
• Keep up your fluid intake, especially in hot weather and after exercise
• Being active assists your gut to stay active too
• Look for yoghurt that contains probiotic cultures
• A nutritious eating plan plus regular physical activity is key to good health

The amount of fibre, or roughage, consumed can have significant nutritional implications. Some components of food, such as dietary fibre, are unable to be fully digested and absorbed, but can help regulate the function of the bowel. Fibre helps keep digested food bulky and soft so that it can move through the intestine more easily. Fibre rich foods, such as wholegrain breads and cereals, fruit and vegetables, also supply essential nutrients plus help you to feel fuller for longer.

The sugar in Ski^® Activ^® comes from 3 sources: some added sucrose (table sugar), naturally occurring fructose (fruit sugar from the fruit in the fruited varieties) and natural lactose (milk sugar from dairy ingredients). All of these are listed together in the Nutrition Information as the total amount of sugars. At Ski^® we're famous for great tasting yoghurt, so we add a little sucrose to avoid a tart tasting product, as the probiotic and yoghurt cultures increase the acidity levels of the yoghurt. Rest assured, we're always looking for ways to reduce the sugar content without compromising on taste.

Ski^® Activ^® has been designed to deliver the best taste and nutritional balance. The sugar level in Ski^® Activ^® is contributed from 3 sources: some added sucrose (table sugar), plus naturally occurring fructose (fruit sugar from fruit puree in the fruit flavoured varieties) and natural lactose (milk sugar from dairy ingredients).

Some sugar is added to the yoghurt to avoid a tart tasting product because the probiotic and yoghurt cultures naturally decrease the pH level of the yoghurt. The Ski^® Activ^® range of yogurts are low fat yoghurts, and contain less than 0.9 g of fat per 100 g of yoghurt.

Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt is made at two manufacturing sites: one site produces the multipack 125 g tubs and the other the single serve 170 g and 800 g bulk pack. The slight difference in ingredient lists and nutrition data can be attributed to the variance in manufacturing processes and milk composition at both sites.

YES! Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt can be included in gluten free eating plans.

YES! Low fat yoghurt must contain less than 1.5 grams of total fat per 100 g of yoghurt. Ski^® Activ^® yoghurt varieties contain an average of 0.9 grams of total fat per 100 g of yoghurt, which is less than 1% total fat.

YES! This smooth and creamy yoghurt is low in fat and provides up to 40 per cent of your recommended dietary intake (RDI) of calcium per serve. The natural acidity of yoghurt also enhances gut uptake of available calcium.