The low down on Prebiotics & Probiotics
Gut health research continues to emerge and with this many gut healing products are hitting the supermarket shelves. These products are often bombarding you as a consumer and contain many mixed messages. I wanted to get back to basics and share some real food approaches with you on how you can naturally support your gut microbiome through food.
Gut Health
Research continues to demonstrate the benefit of taking care of gut health and how this positively translates throughout the body. Studies have highlighted beneficial ways to increase a healthy gut flora (yay for a flourishing garden) and nutritional choices that can also positively impact the gut microbiota environment.
Prebiotics and Probiotic rich food consumption have been seen to have a positive effect on gut health. However, I think there is some confusion between the two and what exactly their role is, so let’s break it down.
What are Prebiotics?
Prebiotics can be found in non-digestible fibre rich foods.
They feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut. So are super important!
How do I include them?
Some sources include: Asparagus, Unripe Bananas (can use green banana flour), Eggplant, Garlic, Jerusalem Artichokes, Leeks & Onions.
What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide beneficial bacteria
for the gut.
How do I include them?
Some sources include: Fermented foods like Natural/Greek Yoghurt, Pickled Vegetables, Sauerkraut, Kefir, Kimchi, Kombucha, Miso & Tempeh.
Start to include SMALL amounts of these regularly in your diet. I often see people chugging down bottles of and bottles of Kombucha… go easy… this can cause lots of digestive stress! When it comes to these types of products, always check serving sizes, as a lot of the time it’s less than you’d think or even less than you would naturally portion to consume yourself! Start very small and build your way up slowly.
Digestive Issues & Concerns
I definitely recommend working with a qualified health professional to assist you with this. If you’re after 1:1 support, contact me for appointments.
Now that we have covered some fantastic sources of prebiotics and probiotics, which food are you most looking forward to including!?
