“If you go to my website, Natren.com, it tells you how to read a probiotic label. So, what is the most important thing in the probiotic? That you know exactly who was the researcher and formulator of that product, and why did they choose those microorganisms? What's happened now is that because of mass marketing and bulk manufacturing practices, they throw a bunch of bacteria together to assault the poor consumer, not knowing what the mix of bacteria is. They just think, "Oh, the more bacteria in there, the better for me. The higher the potency, the better for me." Nothing can be further than truth because bacteria are smarter than we are. And you have to know exactly what bacteria you're choosing. Has it been in the literature for a hundred years or more? Has it evolved with us as a human species forever? Is it part of our original probiotic flora and has it been safe under all and any conditions? You don't know those factors; you're really playing a wild card here. You have no exact knowledge of if that probiotic product will do you any good or will it just evacuate your system.”
- Natasha Trenev
Natatsha Trenev has been called the “Mother of Probiotics.” Her lifelong passion is researching, developing and spreading the word about the many benefits of probiotics – but also – the correct kind of probiotics. Not all probiotics are the same and she goes to great length to explain what to look for.
On this episode of The Matt Feret Show, hear how Natasha’s decades of experience has shaped the probiotic industry and her profound contributions to probiotic beneficial bacteria supplementation, which can influence every aspect of your physical, mental, emotional, skin, and organ health.
Enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Podcast Addict, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Alexa Flash Briefing, iHeart, Acast or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by Prepare for Medicare – The Insider’s Guide book series. Sign up for the Prepare for Medicare Newsletter, an exclusive subscription-only newsletter that delivers the inside scoop to help you stay up-to-date with your Medicare insurance coverage, highlight Medicare news you can use, and reminders for important dates throughout the year. When you sign up, you’ll immediately gain access to seven FREE Medicare checklists.
“Online or in a real health food store that has a real live nutritionist walking the aisle of the store is one of your best bets. But here's what you can eliminate. Since I am a probiotic expert, I'm going to tell you what to eliminate first. Do not buy anything that tells you it's shelf stable. It's a bogus statement because when they're talking about shelf stability, they're talking about a temperature of 72 degrees, which does not exist in transportation, warehousing, or even with an ignorant consumer who says, "Oh, this is shelf stable," and they throw it in a hot car, or they put it on the window still, or they put it close to a heater. That bacteria is basically dead by the time you buy it off the shelf or if it has anything in there, it's some cheap bacteria that they've compressed in there at large numbers so that something comes up in the lab report, which is not what you want to be paying for.
So, believe me, as a 54-year veteran, forget about the so-called shelf stable. It's an illusion, not going to give you bacteria. They're going to survive your stomach and your bile and really make an impact in your GI tract.”
- Natasha Trenev
“Nobody really complies with any labeling standard. They comply with most of it or some of it, but they don't truly comply with the labeling standard. And that labeling standard was first affirmed in 1989 by the entire membership of an organization called the National Nutritional Foods Association. About 5,000 members of retailers, manufacturers, brokers, distributors, educators, all voted for that standard and passed it in 1989, and then it was readily ignored. And then they came back to me in 1994 to prepare another standard, which eventually got read into Congressional Record to pass something called the DSHEA Amendment. So, without understanding that labeling standard, you're really just wasting your money and time.
So, I’m not here just to promote my own brand because that's not my purpose in life. My purpose in life is to educate. And that's why I went into the business because I couldn't persuade anybody to do the right things because it's difficult, not an easy way to make money, and most people don't want to deal with it. So that's what I'm saying. The times now are too serious for people to be wasting their money or thinking they can get a cheap product that's going to do them any good. It's like I said, if you're initiating skydiving and now you want to save money and you buy a cheap parachute, not a good idea.”
- Natasha Trenev
Email: NTrenev@Natren.com
(805) 908-5404
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-trenev-73118919/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NatrenProbiotics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashatrenev/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natrenprobiotic/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@natrenprobiotics8877
Books:
00:00:00 / 00:40:35
Hello everyone. This is Matt Feret, author of the Prepare for Medicare book series, and welcome to another episode of The Matt Feret Show, where I interview insiders and experts to help light a path to a successful retirement. If you enjoy this podcast, I'd love your support. How? Well, it's simple. Please follow, like, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening to it. Leaving honest reviews and 5-star ratings really helps the show thrive. Thanks. I'm very excited to announce my new book and workbook are live. Prepare for Social Security: The Insider's Guide to Maximizing Your Retirement Benefits can be found on Amazon and other major online retailers.
(00:45):
If you enjoy this show, I'd love your support. Please follow, like, or subscribe wherever you are. Leaving honest reviews and five-star ratings really does help the show thrive, and also helps others discover it. Thank you.
I'd also like to invite you to sign up for the Matt Feret newsletter. I send two a month, full of new you can use, and you can sign up on any of my three websites, prepareformedicare.com, prepareforsocialsecurity.com, and themattferetshow.com.
(00:48):
Natasha Trenev has been called the “Mother of Probiotics.” Her lifelong passion for researching, developing and spreading the word about the many benefits of probiotics, but also the correct kind of probiotics. As you're about to hear, not all probiotics are the same, and she goes to great lengths to explain what to look for. On this episode of The Matt Feret Show, hear how Natasha's decades of experience has shaped the probiotic industry and her profound contributions to probiotic beneficial bacteria supplementation, which can influence every aspect of your physical, mental, emotional, skin, and organ health. Enjoy.
(01:29):
Natasha, welcome to the show.
Natasha Trenev (01:32):
Thank you so much. And I get a chance to talk about my favorite things, which is precision probiotics and longevity.
Matt Feret (01:39):
Well, that's a great start. Tell everybody what you do and how long you've been doing it and how you help people.
Natasha Trenev (01:45):
Okay. Well, again, my name is Natasha Trenev and I started the whole field of probiotics 40 years ago. Prior to that, I helped launch a natural style Bulgarian yogurt in the mid-1960s while still a student at Hollywood High School and then going on to UCLA, helping my Eastern European family with their small startup business. And we were the first to introduce, I said that natural style Bulgarian yogurt. We introduced kefi through sdiry. And I set the standards for liquid yogurt in the state of California. I helped set the standards for kefi in the state of New York, and I also had two probiotic labeling standards. One was finally read into Congressional Record in 1995. So I understand fermented foods, I understand cultured foods, I understand what it takes to be a starter culture, and I understand probiotic bacteria from A to Z.
Matt Feret (02:45):
Well, I mean A to Z, let's go. Let's do as many A, B, Cs and maybe we'll get to Z if we can. So probiotics, there's a lot in the news, there's a lot in the media, there's a lot... You mentioned yogurt, it's everywhere. What are they and what do they do and why should people be thinking about probiotics?
Natasha Trenev (03:06):
Well, let me then divide the categories. There's a category called functional foods, and that's like your yogurt and your kefi and any other food that has fermentation. Now, the quality of the food involves the starter culture, which means the specific bacteria that are meant to ferment that food. You can't just throw in any bacteria that you call a probiotic and say it's going to ferment the vegetable or anything. That would lead to what I call contamination and possibly deadly results. So this is one identification we have to understand. And the quality of yogurt is not whether it's low fat, full fat, Greek style, organic. The most important quality of the yogurt is how good is the starter culture, who's the person who developed the formula, and that starter culture gives you some benefits besides the fact that it's a functional food. And you cannot throw in other organisms such as acidophilus or bifidobacteria in yogurt because they're not fermenting the food. They're just thrown in there to make a label decoration and will possibly do you no good whatsoever.
(04:15):
So, this is one problem we have in the industry, is the lack of understanding. And since I'm sometimes affectionately called the “Mother of Probiotics,” believe me, I understand the fermented food products up to the category of what I call probiotic products, which I introduced the whole category. Unfortunately, I didn't think of the name, but I came upon the name and I said, wow, there's more to the health of the GI tract than just knowing about acidophilus. We need to know about these other bacteria and we have to be able to make them in a way that they survive our stomach acid, the bile, make it into our small intestine and large intestine, and actually want to live there and help the human host, which is us, have a better mental attitude, have a better energy level, have a better immunity level, have more beautiful skin. And everything in the body is touched by these microorganisms. And so if you don't understand this, you don't understand the foundation of health.
Matt Feret (05:18):
Okay, so let me unpack that a little bit. Let's talk about standards first and foremost. And you talked about additives to make a label, and I think a lot of people have heard of that before, not necessarily for probiotics, but what is cage free? And then you watch a documentary that says cage free is if they have a minimum amount of time and a little space outside of a massive barn, for example. So, what about labels and official labels? Can you tell the audience about what to look for and how to go through and look at whether probiotic or something certification is actually something you need to look for?
Natasha Trenev (05:55):
Right. Well, let's talk about probiotic supplements because that seems to be proliferating exponentially. I'm also the author of that probiotic labeling standard that was read into Congressional Record. And if you go to my website, Natren.com, it tells you how to read a probiotic label. So what is the most important thing in the probiotic? That you know exactly who was the researcher and formulator of that product, and why did they choose those microorganisms? What's happened now is that because of mass marketing and bulk manufacturing practices, they throw a bunch of bacteria together to assault the poor consumer, not knowing what the mix of bacteria is. They just think, "Oh, the more bacteria in there, the better for me. The higher the potency, the better for me." Nothing can be further than truth because actually bacteria are smarter than we are. And you have to know exactly what bacteria you're choosing. Has it been in the literature for a hundred years or more? Has it evolved with us as a human species forever? Is it part of our original probiotic flora and has it been safe under all and any conditions?
(07:07):
You don't know those factors; you're really playing a wild card here. You have no exact knowledge of if that probiotic product will do you any good or will it just evacuate your system because 40% of your dry weight fecal matter is bacteria. So, these are all the important things we have to know.
(07:29):
Number two is that each organism that's listed on that probiotic label has to have a specific potency. They just can't give a total potency and then list a bunch of bacteria. You have no idea if even they're in there, first of all, or what potency level, because without knowing that or how the bacteria has grown, stabilized, and made to survive, it's just a name on a label. It doesn't mean anything. And so, this is what I'm trying to address because the times are too serious. We are spending $4.3 trillion on so-called healthcare and 80% of those people are with chronic illness. That is unheard of.
(08:10):
And so, the reason I'm breaking in on this little sidetrack here is because the information I'm telling you is absolutely essential. And as I tell people, I don't make the rules, but you have to learn about this because this is probably the best way to begin your journey of building the foundation of your health. And that's what I call specific precision probiotics, a good diet that's low in carbs and processed food, and light exercise. And remember I said light exercise. You don't want to be pounding your body. And if you do those three things, you're probably on your way to much better health and longevity. But if you are the one who's seduced by pretty labels or some fancy person telling you this is good for you, forget it, not going to do what it's supposed to do.
(09:01):
So, because the situation is very serious and because we all need to be supporting your health, we have to change what we know about these probiotics, how we take them, and why they're now essential for our immune health and our overall health because we have about 209 chemicals in our foods alone. We have pollution in the air, we have pollution in the atmosphere. We have pollution in the water that's never seen before. So, as I tell people, I don't make the rules, I'm just here to tell you that maybe a hundred years ago eating fermented foods was enough, but now they can't even scratch the surface because we've created this monstrosity and now we have to help our body get through it.
Matt Feret (09:47):
So, if I'm interested in just starting this where I've been eating yogurt, where I'm making sure to get sauerkraut or kimchi in my diet, how do I go about... If I'm just going to a regular grocery store, should I be buying those things as well? Or you're saying at this point that's not enough given all the toxicity in the air and in the water and in the foods that we're consuming. Where do we start if we're just like, I guess like me, I go to the grocery store and I buy stuff?
Natasha Trenev (10:15):
Well, actually some grocery stores carry it, I think, online or in a real health food store that has a real live nutritionist walking the aisle of the store is one of your best bets. But here's what you can eliminate. Since I am a probiotic expert, I'm going to tell you what to eliminate first. Do not buy anything that tells you it's shelf stable. It's a bogus statement because when they're talking about shelf stability, they're talking about a temperature of 72 degrees, which does not exist in transportation, warehousing, or even with an ignorant consumer who says, "Oh, this is shelf stable," and they throw it in a hot car, or they put it on the window still, or they put it close to a heater. That bacteria is basically dead by the time you buy it off the shelf or if it has anything in there, it's some cheap bacteria that they've compressed in there at large numbers so that something comes up in the lab report, which is not what you want to be paying for.
(11:16):
So, believe me, as a 54-year veteran, forget about the so-called shelf stable. It's an illusion, not going to give you bacteria. They're going to survive your stomach and your bile and really make an impact in your GI tract.
(11:30):
Second, if you're looking in the cooler, make sure that the product is packaged in glass and that the glass is brown and that you actually have a tin lid because that's the perfect protection for bacteria. Aside from the refrigeration, you want to keep moisture, light and high temperatures out. Why? Because anything that wakes up the bacteria to a fully function means that they're in a closed-ended system, a capsule, or a bottle, and they'll start multiplying. No food is coming out in and no waste is going out. And they're going to start dying, they're going to be stressed, they're not going to be able to function. And the last thing you want to do is spend money on a supplement where none of the bacteria really want to function in your GI tract to help you, or they're so stressed out they can't function at all.
Matt Feret (12:19):
Okay, so if I'm buying yogurt that says probiotic, and you don't have to name a brand, is that an example of minimally probiotic, I guess, or are there [inaudible 00:12:33]-
Natasha Trenev (12:34):
First of all, for yogurt, and since I've set the standard in the state of California, there are two bacteria that are part of the starter cultures, the bacteria that actually ferment the food. And yes, in their own way, they do serve a probiotic function, but there's so little of the live bacteria left in the yogurt because it's wet and the bacteria keep growing and processing the food. So they diminish quickly like this. It's an arrow going straight down. So, you're not going to get... Even if you ate the whole carton, you're not going to get enough bacteria to make an impact on that hundred trillion bacteria microbiome inside your GI tract. In fact, you've got microbiomes all over your body. So it's not going to make an impact. Yes, it's a good functional food. Is it a good thing to include it in your diet? Yes, but it's not enough.
(13:24):
And if I can give you an example, it's like somebody unfortunately amputated their arm and somebody comes running out with a Band-Aid. And yes, it's the right concept, but not nearly enough. Okay?
Matt Feret (13:38):
Got it.
Natasha Trenev (13:39):
Does that makes sense?
Matt Feret (13:40):
Yeah, no, it makes a lot of sense. So, let's move into, if you don't mind, the right probiotics, and you've explained how to go figure those out and it seems pretty hard to find that. Is that a true statement? You just mentioned online. Where would someone start to begin to source, and not only source, but figure out to your point, which ones are the real ones? Which ones are the complete ones?
Natasha Trenev (14:05):
I've been in this this field, this probiotic field 40 years and the toll fermented foods field, 54 years. And I've been on the standards committee for 10 years. So, I invite people to go to my website. Unfortunately, right now, I see the products globally. Nobody really complies with any labeling standard. They comply with most of it or some of it, but they don't truly comply with the labeling standard. And that labeling standard was first affirmed in 1989 by the entire membership of an organization called the National Nutritional Foods Association. About 5,000 members of retailers, manufacturers, brokers, distributors, educators, all voted for that standard and passed it in 1989, and then it was readily ignored. And then they came back to me in 1994 to prepare another standard, which eventually got read into Congressional Record to pass something called the DSHEA Amendment. So, without understanding that labeling standard, you're really just wasting your money and time.
(15:09):
So it's not here just for me to promote my own brand because that's not my purpose in life. My purpose in life is to educate. And that's why I went into the business because I couldn't persuade anybody to do the right things because it's difficult, not an easy way to make money, and most people don't want to deal with it. So that's what I'm saying. The times now are too serious for people to be wasting their money or thinking they can get a cheap product that's going to do them any good. It's like I said, if you're initiating skydiving and now you want to save money and you buy a cheap parachute, not a good idea. So that's-
Matt Feret (15:52):
Not a great idea. If you had to guess, and it's just a guess, I get it. Of all of the products currently available out there, which products from a percentage standpoint would meet the guidelines that have been outlined that you've outlined here?
Natasha Trenev (16:04):
Maybe less than 1%.
Matt Feret (16:06):
Oh, wow.
Natasha Trenev (16:08):
Because they're missing something. That's why I'm saying. If you look at my product declaration, it says exactly lactobacillus acidophilus, it tells you the strain, NAS strain, 5 billion CFUs through the expiry date. Bifidobacterium bifidum, 20 billion CFUs through the expiry date. In other words, every organism that's in the product is a separate listing with a separate potency. Then the third bacteria is a lactobacillus bulgaricus, 5 billion CFUs by the expiry date. That's put in an oil matrix. And if any of your listeners remember their physiology course, that oil does not break down in the stomach, and oil is emulsified by bile, which is a little bit lower down in your small intestine. And so you have to have something that does not get destroyed by stomach acid because the purpose of stomach acid is one, to digest proteins and to kill the bacteria that we call background noise in any food that you ingest, especially if it's raw and undercooked.
(17:16):
So, the bacteria are coming in. So the body protects itself by A, breaking down the protein in the stomach, and then killing the bacteria or yeast that comes in with the food so that when it's dumped into the small intestine to complete the carbohydrate digestion and to emulsify the oil with the bile, it's been protected from the bacteria that it's ingesting either through the food, through the liquid or through the air. Does that make sense?
Matt Feret (17:44):
It does make sense. My next question is related, but it might be overly simplistic. How do I know if I need probiotics? Does everyone need it? What are some signs or things in my body or how do I know if I need to go do this and supplement it? You said it's not found in today's food and there are lots of pollutants, but what are some common signs or common reasons why I would want to go look for this and actually actively go search out the type of probiotics you're talking about?
Natasha Trenev (18:16):
Well, if you are taking any medication, and if you are the 80% of chronic disease, we know is a sign that most people are deficient in their microbiome. We know that 7% of children born vaginally and breastfed in North America get the right beneficial bacteria called Bifidobacteria infantis from their mother, but 93% don't get it. So you already have a handicap if you're living in this industrialized country. It depends on the number of processed foods you've eaten, the amount of stress you're under, what's your view or your perception of reality is, what's your lifestyle? And that all adds up. And from my own evaluation, almost everyone I talk to has a family member that is ill and a chronic problem. And just from my own unscientific evaluation by the hundreds of people I meet all the time, it's probably beyond belief how compromised people are.
(19:21):
So what my determination has come to see is that almost everybody in North America needs the right probiotic because we very efficiently have destroyed that microbiome by excessive use of antibiotics. And we know that that's chronicled by pediatrician journals, by medical journals, by JAMA, by New England Health Journal. They all talk about the excessive use of antibiotics. Now, antibiotics save your life, but they're often prescribed willy-nilly because a patient wants something done. And so that's led to this problem of insufficient beneficial bacteria that are found in your microbiome. Then you have all these antibiotics which you don't even know about. I'll just give you one example that's very prominent right now. Multi-billion-dollar lawsuits against Monsanto, and now Bayer, because of glyphosate. And glyphosate now is found in that weed killer called Roundup. And people don't know that glyphosate was originally registered as a potent antibiotic, and that sprayed, that's actually what caused the cancer in the patients from the glyphosate because they were exposed to that weed killer and it destroyed the balance in their microbiome. And that led to cancer.
(20:47):
Now, you're not hearing this unless you're actually listening to the lawyers' presentation as to what caused the damage to their clients, but that's really what's going on. And many people don't understand that a lot of these chemicals used to kill weeds also have an antibiotic effect on our microbiome. So, we're inhaling that either through the air. A lot of the people that got sick were living here on this Laguna Hills golf course site that's a gated community, lovely place to live. So, in the morning, they were spraying that chemical lavishly on that green lawn, and people were happy to see the green lawn, but ultimately a lot of them got very ill and developed cancers. So, I could go on for two hours and tell you about the other chemicals in the food or in the air that destroy your microbiome.
(21:37):
So we've created this situation where we historically have parents, like a mother and on the father's side that have GI problems. So yes, the GI tract, your various microbiomes in your body that have 238 million genes versus our 22,000, have a tremendous impact on our thinking, on our physical health, on our organ health and everything that we do every day because we're actually more bacteria cells than we are human cells.
Matt Feret (22:12):
Let's go physical first. Let's say I start taking your product or any other product that meets that less than 1% definition. What do people notice in your experience? Do they notice anything? Do they... Physically, and then we'll go mentally later if that's a topic because you did bring that up. So let's go physical health first. What will I notice? Is this just silent and it actually helps? I mean, I have no idea what's going on, or will I start to notice things?
Natasha Trenev (22:40):
No, you will feel it. You will feel it by having more energy, you will feel it because your immune system is going to protect you better. You're going to feel it because your mental clarity will become better. Your ability to think clearly, faster, and better will be enhanced. Your skin will reflect what's going on inside of your GI tract and how your skin looks is what the inside of your GI tract looks. So if your skin is wrinkly, spotted and horrible looking, that's what the inside of your GI tract looks like.
(23:12):
So yes, women spend millions of dollars a year paying for expensive treatments, and I always tell them, 80% of your skin beauty comes from within, but it's not just your beautiful skin, then everything functions better. Every organ functions better. The wrong bacteria are not getting into your bloodstream to cause inflammation, which really is the cause of strokes and heart attacks, not high cholesterol. And inflammation in the body is an indication that the immune system cannot isolate the offender and the offender is causing a problem. And that inflammation is continuing because the immune system is misdirected and not able to find the attacker and is therefore destroying the human cellular structure.
(24:01):
The other point is that you're going to age less because your body has to replace 10 million cells that die every minute of the day. You have 50 trillion human cells that compose you, me and you. Those 50 trillion cells are changed every year. So, if your body is producing cheap proteins to replace those cells that are being lost, the 10 million cells a minute, and it starts producing cheap proteins, it's a sign of disease. Period. And I'm just giving this in very simple terminology. So yes, I'm not the cause of the problem. I'm not working at 75 because I want to make more money. That's not my purpose. It's a very serious situation, and we have to take an active participation. And yes, probiotics is the foundation of your health, but you also have to change your diet and change your perception of reality. Make sure that you are taking care of those three things if you want to live a long, healthy and happy life.
Matt Feret (25:12):
What about the benefits for mental health? You touched on them, but what are they with probiotics in your experience?
Natasha Trenev (25:20):
Well, yeah, specific probiotics. Well, first of all, let me explain to you, there is such a thing that's called a second brain. It's your enteric nervous system. And that enteric nervous system stimulates the production of what we call neurotransmitters. And those neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are what I call the feel-good chemical. So up to 90% of the serotonin is produced in your gut and about 50% of your dopamine, and gets sent up your vagus nerve, which is the one nerve that's connected from your belly to your first brain. And without those, what I call very important chemical compounds, you're not going to be able to function with mental clarity, with good feelings, with good moods. So that is produced in your gut. And there has been research done for well over 50, 60 years that with a wrong composition of chemicals being produced in your body that affects your first brain, people can become violent and have antisocial behavior with depression, aggression, whatever.
Matt Feret (26:31):
So you've seen people begin taking probiotics and their mental health changes?
Natasha Trenev (26:39):
Yes, absolutely. Not just any probiotic, because what people are doing, and I want to caution, they're selling you a probiotic that yes, under clinical conditions will take care of your... You'll feel better, you'll be in a better mood. Unfortunately, that probiotic microorganism is not one that should be taken in large amounts, and it's called lactobacillus plantarium. Because I've seen studies and I'm now continuing to do in vitro studies where that organism will inhibit the beneficial bacteria for the large intestine, which are called Bifidobacteria, and are absolutely necessary to maintain immune health.
(27:18):
So what I want to caution everybody, do not take probiotic microorganisms as a symptom relief or one symptom in relief that cause, because the GI tract should be looked at as an ecosystem. You have to take the right bacteria that work together to create an ambient ecosystem in the GI tract in order to allow the body to heal itself. And then the body decides how many of those chemicals you need sent up to your first brain and what else repaired needs to be taken because it's now not agitated by the immune response, by getting false messages, and by not creating those healthy proteins.
Matt Feret (28:00):
Does your gut bacteria... Sorry, go ahead.
Natasha Trenev (28:03):
Does that make sense?
Matt Feret (28:04):
It does, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to step on your mic there. At what age... I'm going to guess it's early, but you could... I don't know. At what age is the best time to begin taking probiotics?
Natasha Trenev (28:18):
Well, in North America, I would say for the pregnant woman and nursing mother, because there was also studies showing in 2014 that about 7% of the mothers in North America are able to transmit this wonderful bacterial called Bifidobacteria infantis. And you can tell by the name infantis that it's for the infant. To transmit these bacteria to an infant. Why this is so important? Because that bacteria actually sets whether the immune system overreacts to create food sensitivities and allergies and other problems or can calmly accept the passing of normal food into the bloodstream to nourish the body before it overreacts. And with the loss of these bacteria, we're seeing a host of problems that we shouldn't be seeing in young people. People of younger ages are getting diseases that are inherently found in adults and older people. So I would say if you are planning on having a child, you start taking the Bifidobacteria infantis in a product they call Life Start for your baby, and you take the Healthy Trinity for yourself.
(29:35):
And then when the baby is born, you keep giving that baby the bacteria. You can by smearing small amounts of the powder on your breast nipples or mixing it in with... if you're expressing your breast milk or you're feeding formula, you can mix it into the formula. That's very important. And this bacteria is also very important for all individuals who have now developed sensitivities because they probably didn't get this bacteria when they were supposed to, and now they've created all kinds of sensitivities.
(30:05):
So the bacteria that I use and only recommend are safe for every member of the family. You don't have to go buy separate bacteria for the child, a separate bacterium for the woman, a separate bacteria for the men, a separate bacteria for the seniors. No. My four strains of bacteria that I have chosen are for the whole family, and they've been safe and published in literature for a hundred years. And their job is to make that ecosystem optimal. That's what their job is. And once you have an optimal ecosystem in your gut, in all your microbiomes, in your mouth, in your esophagus, on your skin, when you make those microbiomes healthy, you will be healthy.
Matt Feret (30:48):
You got in front of my next question, which is does your gut bacteria change as you age? And are there specific strains or percentages that you need as you age? But you may have already answered that, which is no, they need them every age.
Natasha Trenev (31:06):
They do need them. But interestingly enough, even when the situation wasn't as this bad, according to Japanese research in the 1980s, by age 40, you have probably lost between 40 to 60% of that Bifidobacteria that lives in your large intestine and the colon as part of the large intestine, and that's not a good sign. So the Japanese like to call that bacteria, the longevity bacteria, and that definitely has been shown to decline. So it's not like you hit 40, there's a bong that goes off. No. It's actually as you age, you become a less desirable host for those bacteria. And as I told you before, they're much smarter than we are. They don't want to stay anywhere where they can't proliferate the kind. And if you become a poor habitat for them, they just leave because again, 40% of your dry weight fecal matter is bacteria. So it's a very dynamic ecosystem that is influenced by your thoughts, influenced by your food, and influenced by the chemicals you ingest.
Matt Feret (32:15):
So let's look at older adults, and I'll just say, I don't know, 60 plus. I know 60 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 40, but let's just go 60 plus. And let's say I've got some chronic conditions already. I mean, what are the most common ones? High blood pressure and high cholesterol. Let's just take those two. And not that this is a diagnosis or a remedy outside of prescription medication, but when you are 60 and you're looking at the next 20, 30, hopefully 40 years of your life, and you already have some medical conditions or chronic medical conditions, can the introduction of this help you or does it simply help you maintain your current state and not get worse?
Natasha Trenev (32:59):
It depends on the amount that you need. And every one of us needs a different amount because our composition of our microbiota in the microbiome is unique to us as our fingerprint. So as long as the probiotic bacteria is in a delivery system that survives and is safe at any level, you can determine, that's why I have something called the layering system, how much of the probiotic you need. The most important thing for all those medications you mentioned that there's no inflammation in the arteries. In fact, there's a number of studies that contradict that high cholesterol is the cause of heart attack or other problems associated with the heart.
(33:43):
Really, high cholesterol becomes dangerous as inflammation in your arteries expanse. Cholesterol is the only food your brain can take. And so I had many heated debates even about cholesterol, even about LDL, and there was a recent publication that says that LDL is really not a cholesterol, it's a lipoprotein, however you want to pronounce it, that contains cholesterol, and that is the one food that is essential for brain health. And there was about an 1,800 person Japanese study that showed that those who had higher LDLs had less of the age-related death diseases than other members of that group.
Matt Feret (34:29):
So, it's never too late. And there is the same type of mixes that are appropriate for age starting in... I mean, I guess in your 20s it said, but you did mention something about dosage. So, I'm assuming there's a correct dosage for me out there and for others. How do you go about determining that and because-
Natasha Trenev (34:50):
Right.
Matt Feret (34:51):
Yeah. How do you do that?
Natasha Trenev (34:52):
Well, I'll give you one example. I get millions of them, not just thousands, because I've been doing this for 54 years. So somebody will call me up, "Well, I've taken one pill of the Healthy Trinity and I'm not seeing results." And I'll like tell them, "Okay, take one in the morning and take one at night." And three days later, they'll call me and say, "Oh my God, this really worked for me." And I said, "Yes, I can't see inside your GI tract. I can only take an educated guess based on my 54-year experience." And so the good news is I'm not giving you a drug. I'm not giving you a symptom cure. I'm giving you something to actually fix your ecosystem, so the body has the ability to heal itself. And so I say you start off with one, and then if that one is not enough in getting you the results you want, you can go up to one twice a day, one three times a day, and take our powdered probiotics, which start working from your mouth to the other end, and you create a customized system.
(35:49):
Just like when you go to a gym or a fitness coach, they don't give you one remedy for your health objectives. It's not like they put you in the treadmill for 20 minutes and say, "Okay, you're done." That no longer exists. It's the same thing with probiotic organisms, and I'm proud that I can still offer customized program that fits everyone. And I'm saying, if you invest in your health, you will never be sorry because what the heck? I don't want to die in a nursing home. I don't want to die when I'm 90 or a hundred looking like a dried-up prune. That's not the quality of life I want. I want to be able to be active, to be working. Yes, I'm going to get a little bit of problems because there's engine wear, but I shouldn't be requiring critical care.
Matt Feret (36:38):
Thank you. This has been fascinating, and I know you said we could talk about this for hours and I could too. I'm only scratching the surface. So, repeat again for everybody, how can people find more about you and about your products and about the standards by which your products are developed?
Natasha Trenev (36:55):
Yeah, it's very easy. You can go to Natren.com, spelt N-A-T-R-E-N.com, and you can get a chat, or I still have live people that are not telemarketing people. They're there to help you. Many of them have been with me for 20 years and never want to quit until I quit. And you can reach those people at 866, the number four, and then the spelling of the word N-A-T-R-E-N, which is Natren. And you can call Press Consumer direct. We also have a professional division. I deal with doctors in every category you can think of, from internists to gastroenterologists, the hepatologists to psychiatrists. I deal with all of them, and the ones who have listened to me have gotten their patients into a much better shape.
Matt Feret (37:47):
Thank you. What questions did I not ask during this time together that I should have?
Natasha Trenev (37:55):
Let me just think of something that you might have missed. I think we covered the essential role of probiotics and why they're necessary. I think that maybe what you say that there's many more challenges facing us, and probiotics will be a crucial foundation to keep healthy because our body's going to be facing many more challenges in the coming decade. That's what I want to tell them, that we're going to have more challenges. They're going to be more diseases, especially with the length of wars and the chemicals that are being thrown in the environment. We have many more drug-resistant microorganisms coming out. So there's going to be challenges to our health. And the best way to do that is to arm yourself with knowledge and pay for that which gives you results.
Matt Feret (38:52):
Natasha, thank you very much for your time.
Natasha Trenev (38:55):
Thank you so much. I so enjoyed speaking with you.
Matt Feret (38:58):
Natasha, thank you. If you liked this episode, please follow, like, subscribe, and rate the show. Make sure to hit The Matt Feret Show website for links and show notes. Until next time, to your wealth, wisdom and wellness, I'm Matt Feret, and thanks for tuning in.
(39:18):
The Matt Feret Show, related content, publications and MF Media, LLC is in no way associated, endorsed, or authorized by any governmental agency, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
(39:35):
The Matt Fair Show is in no way associated with, authorized, approved, endorsed, nor in any way affiliated with any company, trademark names or other marks mentioned or referenced in or on The Matt Fair Show. Any such mentioned is for purpose of reference only. Any advice, generalized statistics or opinions expressed are strictly those of the host and guests of The Matt Feret Show.
(39:58):
Although every effort has been made to ensure the contents of The Matt Feret Show and related content are correct and complete, laws and regulations change quickly and often. The ideas and opinions expressed on The Matt Feret Show aren't meant to replace the sage advice of healthcare, insurance, financial planning, accounting, or legal professionals. You are responsible for your financial decisions. It is your sole responsibility to independently evaluate the accuracy, correctness, or completeness of the content, services, and products of and associated with The Matt Feret Show, MF Media, LLC, and any related content and publications.
(40:35):
The thoughts and opinions expressed on The Matt Feret Show are those of the host and The Matt Feret Show guests only, and are not the thoughts and opinions of any current or former employer of the host or guests of The Matt Feret Show. Nor is The Matt Feret Show made by, on behalf of, or endorsed or approved by any current or former employer of the host or guests of The Matt Feret Show.
For up-to-date Medicare information, visit:
www.prepareformedicare.com