Earth Friendly Goodies If it's Good for the Earth it's Good for Your Health Have you ever suffered from colds, flu, chronic fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, IBS, yeast infections, allergies, asthma or a good ‘ol ride on the toot-toot train? Well, chances are you could use a shot of probiotics.
Probiotics (meaning literally for life) are the “good bacteria” or intestinal flora that form a protective layer in our digestive tract that assist in nutrient absorption and prevent absorption of toxins. In other words this protective layer helps support digestion, process vitamins, regulate immune function, remove toxins, and crowd out bad bacteria. Unfortunately our natural gut bacteria is killed or harmed by preservatives, antacids, alcohol, stress, antibiotics, and many other toxins in our environment so pretty much everyone could benefit from a few billion friendly flora.
Probiotics are naturally found in fermented fruits and vegetables and foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, soy sauce, crème fraiche, and kimchi, among many others. However, many manufacturers of these products pasteurize and over-process these foods killing the naturally occurring live cultures.
I had heard about probiotic supplements but wasn’t all that familiar with what they did until recently. This last weekend though on our way out of town for a little mini vacation as chance would have it we discovered a delightfully delicious new drink called Probiotic Health Daily or phd. They were so good in fact that we had to stop on the way home as well and pick up a couple more.
Phd is a naturally flavored water drink made from organic agave nectar, organic cane juice, natural berry and fruit flavors and most importantly of course six specifically selected strains and 20 billion cfu (colony forming units) of probiotics. The live cultures help to naturally balance and regulate your digestive tract in the Berry Balance flavor or help strengthen your immune system with the Citrus Boost flavor.
To up the cool factor the probiotics are released once you press the “magic button” or patented push-button LifeTop to be more correct (magic button sounds cooler though). The LifeTop protects and preserves the delicate probiotics allowing you to release them when you’re ready. Then you shake-a-roo and watch the color change to a nice bright orange – presto chango you have one delicious probiotic drink and one satisfied tummy – in more ways than one.
If you have tried other probiotic drinks or products please share, we’d love to learn more.
This post shared on Real Food Wednesdays at the Cheeseslave and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade
Home made yogurts can be one of the best and cheapest source of good bacteria or probiotics. But if that is too much of a big deal then commercial probiotics are the way to go.
In my experience, high quality pill supplements are the best probiotics, outside of yogurt and other fermented foods. They really do make a difference in digestive health.
One delicious source of fermented foods I found is from a company in the northwest called Firefly Kitchens. Their kimchi is amazing!
Commercial Sources of Probiotics are great but it is always best to get these good bacteria in there natural sources. Like,Kimchi,Miso,Pickled ginger,Pickles (brine-cured, without vinegar),Sauerkraut, Shoyu, Tamari, Tempeh, and Wine. Most of these can easily found in the community. But,if it does not, commercial ones will do.
I totally agree Brice, although I think many of the natural sources of probiotics like you mentioned can be an acquired taste. It is nice to have a source that tastes great. I still can’t get my wife to eat sauerkraut even though it is so good for you. 🙂
Think I would rather steer clear of pill supplements opting for natural sources (though I agree, many are an acquired taste) Any tips on how to make some of those not so tempting sources a little more tasty? (I’m not a fan of sauerkraut myself either but I’ve heard from a lot of people about its benefits!)
You just have to have a “no thank you helping” 🙂 Good question though Heather. I need to look into other forms of fermented foods as well. If you don’t care for sauerkraut there are other fermented foods you might like. Brice mentioned a bunch in a comment above. Perhaps you would go for some brine cured pickles…
There are many strains of good bacteria. I see this product contains 6. Many only contain one, so what good would that do? Does anyone know if all fermented foods contain all the good bacteria types that we need? Or do we have to eat yogurt AND sauerkraut AND kimchi, etc. to get all the bacteria we need?
That’s a good question. I think each type of probiotic or “good bacteria” does its own thing – some are good for digestion others help strengthen the immune system etc… I don’t know what types are in different types of fermented food. I do know that regardless of what type you eat it is great for stomach health. I even know someone who changed their diet to whole foods and ate a fermented food with each meal and lost 40 pounds pretty quickly – so those good ‘ol bacteria in fermented foods are pretty amazing.
I wonder if this is available in our place, anyways, you mention that fermented fruits can burn fats for about 40 pounds. How thus it work anyway? I tried lots of weight loss diets but non of them says that i can eat whole foods, this is awesome though i dont know if this work. Thanks for this.
I’ve still only seen it at Cub foods and Byerlys, but I haven’t looked recently. I’ve been in the mood for it though so I should hunt some down again.
I not a diet guru or anything but fermented foods help improve digestion (among other things ) so if you are eating fermented foods with every meal you will be able to use more of the food for energy rather than have it sit in the gut and turn to fat. I’m just starting to read the book Wild Fermentation – it has a lot of good information about fermented foods and how to make your own. Check it out.
Plus any diet should recommend whole organic nutrient dense foods – if you are eating highly nutritious food rather than overly processed food you will lose weight. Unless your portions are way out of wack, but still too many vegetables is better than too many fast food burgers. 🙂
G’Day! Chris,
Thanks for the info, My daughters pediatrician recommended we purchase Ultra Flora probiotic..does anyone know if this is safe? Has anyone had good results?!
Great Job!
I’m not familiar with Ultra Flora (from Metagenics I presume?) personally. Generally probiotic supplements are good if you are taking antibiotics since they tend to destroy the good bacteria in the gut. I don’t know enough about particular brands to make a recommendation however. Getting as many probiotics in the form of fermented or cultured food however is a great idea, so for most people increasing the traditional foods you eat that contain probiotics (yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, etc…) will definitely help digestion and over all health.
I have read articles about prebiotics which are as good as probiotics as they encourage you to create probiotics in your gut to aid digestion.
Hi Chris! I have tried other probiotic drinks like Yakult a probiotic drinks popularized by the Japanese. And i find Yakult is good for digestive system.