Probiotics are tiny microorganism (bacteria and yeasts) found in the body’s gut flora. They’re good for our health and happiness, especially your digestive system will benefit from adding more probiotic-rich foods to your diet. They specifically help in absorbing the nutrients found in food. Furthermore, probiotics are a good boost to our immune system which serves as our body’s natural defense against disease and sickness.
Though we usually think of bacteria and yeasts as germs that cause diseases, your body is full of bacteria, both good and bad. Probiotics are often called “good” or “helpful” bacteria because they help keep your gut healthy while fighting the bad bacteria which destroys our immune system.
Probiotics are present in our body from the moment we are born. However, due to exposure to an increasingly toxic environment and overuse of antibiotics, most people don’t get enough of these friendly bacteria on a daily basis. Furthermore, ever since humanity started to opt out of the ancient preserving and fermenting techniques and opted for overly-processed factory-made foods, probiotics in our diet have been on a decline.
An increasing number of people, however, is going back to their roots by fermenting their favorites foods at home. My absolute favorites are kimchi, kombucha, and ginger turmeric ale. Find the recipes below!
ALSO READ:
Amazing Kimchi Health Benefits, A Korean Probiotic Wonder (+ How To Make It)
Homemade Fizzy Turmeric Ginger Ale Soda
How To Make Fizzy Kombucha Tea (+ why you should have a glass every day)
Health Benefits Of Probiotics In A Nutshell
- Producing vitamin B12
- Destroying harmful bacteria
- Stimulating secretion of lgA and regulatory of T-cells
- Building a stronger immune system
- Improved digestion
- Increased energy from the production of vitamin B12
- Better breath because probiotics stop bacteria overgrowth that causes bad breath
- Healthier skin
- Treats eczema and psoriasis
- Reduces colds and flu
- Healing from leaky gut syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (IBS)
- Weight loss
ALSO READ: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), 8 Natural Remedies for IBS
Scroll down for more info on the health benefits of probiotics.
Happy Belly, Healthy You!
A lack of friendly bacteria in your gut might not seem like a big deal to you, but it may have some major effects on your health and happiness. Probiotics are usually found in fresh foods that we eat from good soil. Due to the way fresh foods are processed like soaking in chlorine and adding some preservatives, our foods today may contain only a little number of probiotics. This may cause our body to experience side effects like digestive disorders, skin issues, frequent colds and flu, autoimmune diseases, and headache to name a few.
To avoid these side effects, we must do our best to eliminate the factors that kill probiotics in our body. These include the consumption of sugar, prescription antibiotics, glyphosate laden GMO foods, emotional stress, environmental chemicals, and medications. They mainly kill these friendly buggers or stop probiotics from entering our body. We can avoid this by removing the foods that feed bad bacteria and begin to consume probiotic-rich foods. This way we can heal and restore balance in our gut, thus producing natural probiotics in the body.
Next to veggies grown in good soil, probiotics can also be found in fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt, and kefir.
ALSO READ: 7 Must-Eat Fermented Foods for a Healthy Gut
If you start to add more probiotics to your body, then you will begin to see and feel the health benefits of them quite fast. Keep in mind though that at all times we must maintain a good balance between probiotics and bad bacteria in our body.
So, one way to start living a healthier life is to nourish and improve your gut flora. With that, many health benefits will arise.
Are you looking for a way to live a healthy lifestyle while eating delicious, colorful meals and losing or maintaining weight the healthy way? CLICK HERE
Thanks for reading. I hope this information was helpful. Until next time!
Amy Goodrich
Crazy cat lady, life and food lover, certified biologist, and holistic health coach.
