Introduction 1

Part I: Living in the Microbial World 7

Chapter 1: Getting a Handle on the True Nature of Bacteria 9

Chapter 2: Looking at Bacterial Behavior in Your Body 19

Chapter 3: Discovering Prebiotics and Probiotics 31

Part II: Preserving and Improving Health with Probiotics 45

Chapter 4: Starting with the Obvious: Digestive Health 47

Chapter 5: Exploring Allergies and Probiotics 65

Chapter 6: Getting to the Bottom of Urinary Infections 75

Chapter 7: Using Probiotics in Women’s Health 81

Chapter 8: Understanding Children’s Health and Probiotics 87

Chapter 9: Applying Probiotics to Other Health Issues 93

Chapter 10: Exploring the Promise of Probiotics 105

Part III: Adding Probiotics to Your Lifestyle 113

Chapter 11: Filling Your Diet with Probiotics 115

Chapter 12: Cooking Up Delicious Probiotic-Rich Meals 125

Part IV: The Part of Tens 153

Chapter 13: Ten (Or So) Ways Probiotics Promote Good Health 155

Chapter 14: Ten Misconceptions about Probiotics 161

Chapter 15: Ten (Or So) Famous Bacteria 167

Index 175