Probiotics have been shown to be amazing for your body, especially your gut and immune system. Here are some tips to ensure that the probiotics you’re taking aren’t going to waste.
1. Seek Out Fermented Foods
You can get probiotics from your food. Fermentation concentrates the vitamins in plants, such as B and C vitamins. When you eat fermented products, your gut is then filled with good bacteria. Foods in this category include yogurt, miso, sourdough bread, tamari sauce, and Kombucha. These foods all contain natural probiotics.
Sauerkraut is also a great option. It is one of the most economical fermented foods that you can buy.
The only downside of trying to get the probiotics from food sources only is that nobody really knows how much of the good bacteria is in each serving of each food. If you are using probiotics as a therapeutic choice to treat a specific health concern, then you may want to take a good quality supplement.
2. Be Selective and only Purchase Probiotics that are Delayed Release
Probiotics (good bacteria) that are found on the market that are not delayed release run the risk of being destroyed in our stomach acid shortly after being swallowed. Delayed release capsules ensure that the bacteria are not released in the stomach but it opens only once it gets to our gut. This guarantees you that you are getting the most benefit out of the supplement that you are taking. Wise XS Probiotic is considered one of the best ones in the market in part due to this reason. It gives anywhere between 55 to 100 billion bacteria per capsules (an excellent therapeutic dose) in a delayed release capsule!
3. Eat Less Junk Food
Processed foods contain ingredients that irritate the gut, which makes it hard for the good stuff to flourish. An occasional cookie won’t do you any harm, but if you have junk food every day it can inflame the gut’s lining. Eventually the bad bacteria will rule the roost. This weakens the stomach acid, which will slow the nutrient absorption and concentrate bile. This can then prevent the necessary evacuation of toxins. The result is an increase in your risk of nutrient deficiencies and hormone-related cancers. In fact, you can increase the benefit of your probiotics 10 fold by taking it with fiber such as chia seeds or ground flax seeds.