Our body
harbors two kinds of living bacteria: the good and friendly kind and the bad
kind. The good bacteria are called probiotics. They can be found in different
parts of our body, like the mouth, the skin, the vagina, the urinary tract, the
large intestines, and the colon. The main benefit of these probiotics is to help
restore a healthy balance in our gut. Besides, these “tiny protectors” can have
a wide range of benefits such as aiding with digestion, helping with weight
loss, boosting the immune system...
Let us dive deeper to get to know these wonderful microorganisms and their crucial role to our health.
Probiotics are the live bacteria or yeasts. They act as our protectors against the bad bacteria. It is important to understand these microorganisms and how they operate. Their very existence inside our gut is very important. Probiotics need our help to multiply and stay strong to outcome any invasion of the bad bacteria. To thrive, our good bacteria need prebiotics AKA fiber. And they need both types of fiber, the soluble fiber, and the insoluble fiber. By providing them with the right nutrients and healthy food, we gave our probiotics the capacity to survive and promote healthy environment inside our stomach and intestines.
Probiotics feed
mainly on fructose sugar. This sugar is called Unilin. It is a
compound sugar made of fructose and organic acids. It is found, particularly in
fibers. If our probiotics are not well nurtured, they could become very weak
and vulnerable with time. It could eventually be replaced by certain
fungal bacteria like Candida Albicans, causing big
problems for the colon and the whole digestive system.
BENEFITS OF PROBIOTICS
These living and good
bacteria plays a crucial role in our metabolism. They can help:
1- Maintain a good balance and harmony inside our gut: a disorder or an
imbalance of the microbiome means there are too
many bad bacteria in our body. To keep a healthy the balance inside our
digestive system, our probiotics need to live and multiply to overcome the bad
bacteria and counter any possible infection or disease. To achieve that, these
living microorganisms need the right food nutrients.
2- Improve our immune system
3- Protect against bad bacteria
4- Improve digestion
5- Help absorb food nutrients like minerals
6- Good for the health of our cardio-vascular system
PROBIOTICS IN FOOD INDUSTRY
For decades, probiotics are used in the industry of processed foods. The most used bacteria genres are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. They can be found in foods like yogurts, milk, cheese, ice cream, dark chocolate and other fermented foods and beverages. Probiotics are also sold as capsule supplements in pharmacies. But they also can be found in natural fresh vegetables and fruits.
THE BEST FIVE VEGETABLES THAT HELP OUR PROBIOTICS TO THRIVE
1- Sweet potatoes: they need to be consumed raw and not cooked or baked. The best way to get the most benefits from it is to prepare it in the form of a juice along with some other fresh vegetables, fruits or even spices.
2- Jerusalem artichoke: It is full of unilin, a
dietary soluble fiber.
3- Red pumpkin
4- Asparagus
5- Artichoke
OTHER FOODS PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN PROBIOTICS
Probiotics
can also be found in:
· * Yogurt can be
one of the best sources of probiotics. But not all yogurts contain probiotics.
Just make sure you buy a yogurt with live active cultures and get the one with
no added sugar.
· * Kefir: it is a fermented probiotic milk drink made by kefir grains to cows or goat’s milk. Kefir grains are cultures of lactic acid bacteria and yeast that look like cauliflower.
· * Miso: it is a Japanese seasoning traditionally made by fermenting soybeans with salt in a type of fungus.
· * Sauerkraut: It is a shredded cabbage fermented by lactic acid bacteria. Just make sure the sauerkraut is unpasteurized because pasteurization kills the live bacteria.
· * Pickled: They are cucumbers that have been preserved in a solution made of just salt and water. Then they are left to ferment over time using their own lactic acid bacteria which gives them the sour taste. Pickles are also high in sodium.
· * Garlic
· * Caraway
· * Cumin
· * Anise stars
· * Agave
· * Turmeric
· * Fenugreek
· * Coriander seeds
· * Onion
VERY IMPORTANT
NOTICE
There are
certain things that could destroy your probiotics and you need to avoid. If you
want to keep your probiotics strong and healthy, you need to avoid certain
foods like:
· * all kinds of fried foods
· * sugary
· * too much meat
· * all foods that have additives
· * medication
The bottom line
Just remember, probiotics can be useless unless you consume enough insoluble and soluble fiber about 30 grams per day.
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