Probiotics are a hot topic these days. Some doctors or pharmacists don’t recommend taking them except during a course of antibiotics. It’s true that is an important time to take probiotics but I believe that probiotics should be used regularly as they are a great way to restore the good bacteria in our gut-the word now commonly used to refer to our digestive tract.
Probiotics may be consumed either through probiotic-rich food or drinks or can be taken in supplement form.
A healthy gut biome can reduce sugar cravings and help you lose weight naturally. Our gut is home to many different strains of healthy bacteria and probiotics nourish them all. When choosing a probiotic supplement, it should have at least 8 billion live cultures, there are many which contain even more. There are many brands of probiotics and you will have to be the judge of which works best for your own body. Your local health food store or Whole Foods Market is a good place to get advice on which probiotic to try, especially if you are a newbie.
There are some types of probiotics which need refrigeration and others that do not. As a rule, if you purchased something from the fridge, it needs to be kept there. My best suggestion is that the best probiotic is one you will remember to take. So, if keeping yours in the fridge means you’re more likely to forget to take it then I would go with the soil-based, non-refrigerated kind.
It is recommended that once you find a few brands you like you should switch them every few months so your body doesn’t become too accustomed to any one brand.
Some people experience diarrhea, constipation, belly bloating, fatigue and even possibly flu-like symptoms when they are going through a detox. These are known as “die-off” symptoms and similarly, you may also have these symptoms if you have an overgrowth of candida (yeast) or digestive issues and take too much of your probiotics when you first start using them.
When the probiotics are doing their job destroying the bad pathogens in your gut those bad pathogens release toxins into your system which may cause unpleasant symptoms. These symptoms are known as “die-off”. They are temporary and a sign that the probiotics are doing their job properly. You just may have taken too much, initially, for your body. You can reduce your dosage by half or even take every other day until the symptoms subside and then you can reintroduce the probiotics into your diet.
Some great sources of probiotic-rich foods include:
Cultured vegetables
Coconut water kefir
Coconut or almond milk yogurts
Bubbe’s cultured foods
Kombucha (pay attention to the label if you have candida because sugar is used to fermenting)
Some people wonder about taking probiotics regularly. I believe that because of the chemicals and toxins in the environment and in much of the food we consume, and the antibiotics we have taken over the years, we have wreaked such havoc on our bodies. Probiotics are an important and necessary way to help restore and maintain a healthy and balanced digestive system.
