I am all about gut health. You don’t need to have celiac disease or leaky gut syndrome or any other condition related to the gut and digestive system to start loving your gut more. Gut health is important to our overall health. This is why probiotics are important.
Probiotics are needed for more than just a healthy gut. When we are consuming adequate numbers of probiotics we guarantee healthy numbers of friendly bacteria. These friendly bacteria contribute to many aspects of our health. If you aren’t consuming probiotics on a regular basis, I suggest you start now!! You’ll find my top reasons to add them to your diet below.
- You’ve been taking too many antibiotics – Nowadays antibiotics are commonly prescribed for almost any ailment we face. With the rise of antibiotic use comes the decline of healthy bacteria, which then causes decreased immunity. Antibiotics kill the good and the bad bacteria. If you’ve been taking antiobitcs regularly or even once or twice this year, you will benefit from implementing probiotics into your diet. They help increase your friendly-good bacteria, helping to fight & prevent future illness. Probiotics will replace your good bacteria.
- Probiotics gives us the healthy bacteria we need – As mentioned above, probiotics increase healthy bacteria. These bacteria are needed for a healthy gut. Probiotics work by maintaining a healthy intestinal flora. They help improve digestive health, by helping to move food through our gut.
- Probiotics help with our immunity – Been sick lately? Then probiotics may be what you need. They are pro-health (pro-life). A healthy supply of good bacteria helps to ensure a healthy immune system, staving off disease. Probiotics help to lower the amount of bad bacteria in our system. Bad bacteria can cause infections or other health problems.
- Probiotics aid the healing process in our gut – If you have been suffering from poor gut health, IBS, celiac disease, Crohns, diarrhea or leaky gut syndrome, probiotics are a must. They help heal the gastric lining in our gut. This is why many naturopaths will prescribe probiotics and foods with a healthy supply of probiotics for those with poor digestive health. They are important for nutrient absorption.
- Probiotics can help with allergies or urinary infections – It’s true women with vaginal or urinary infections are encouraged to take probiotics. Yeast infections can be caused by lack of healthy bacteria. Probiotics have even been helpful in delaying childhood allergies as well.
So where do you find probiotics? Well you don’t have to look much further than the kitchen. I suggest consuming probiotics from fermented foods. If you don’t eat these regularly then I suggest a supplement. Fermented foods include kimchi, miso, tempeh sauerkraut, kefir (goats, cow or coconut), yogurt and Koombucha.
Kefir is great in smoothies or mixed into breakfast oatmeal or chia seeds (great for overnight oats). Miso can be used in dishes and Koombucha is purely amazing to drink!! My favorite Koombuchas are from Kevita or GTS Synergy. I buy it local on tap too. With summer around the corner, sauerkraut can be added to those burgers. I eat it plain personally. Kimchi makes a great addition to summer barbeques.
*If you consume yogurt read the label and make sure it contains “live active cultures.” If the label doesn’t say this, there’s no probiotics.
If you need a supplement (although I always recommended whole foods first) look for products with no GMO’s, wheat or yeast. Also, stick with supplements that contain the strain of bacteria in the product and the number of organisms that will be alive by the use by date. Remember quality is important, so don’t go with cheap brands. A few of my favorites are Garden of Life, New Chapter, and Renew Life. You want billions of organisms and many types of strains of bacteria. If you’ve been on antibiotics I suggest both natural, whole foods and a supplement to start.
We all benefit from probiotics!!
Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit
Do you consume probiotics regularly? Are you a fan of loving your gut?