It’s almost like magic
DECEMBER 1, 2016 by OLIVIA NEELY, RDN, LD
By now hopefully we all know the wonderul health benefits of both probiotic and prebiotics. There really is no excuse not to include these both in supplement form and whole food form in your diet daily. Another key component of probiotcs is to keep switching them up! Just like we need to eat a rainbow of colorful foods to get a variety of phytonutrients in our diet it is best to eat different types of probiotics to get as much of these little bugs as we can into our gut microbiome. There are literally billions upon billions of strands of probiotics and if we limit ourselves to only one supplement or food we absolutely will not get the variety that we need for optimal health.
I am going to give you a quick prescription to get started. However, always remember that food as medicine is POWERFUL and any change in diet should be implemented slowly and may not be appropriate for everyone. For example those with candida or on certain gut healing diet may not be ready to being on fermented foods. This is why individualized nutrition is always best. See how you can find out how to get started using food as medicine for your unique biochemistryhere.
Start with two forkfuls of a raw, fermented, live sauerkraut per day with food and work up to two forkfuls per meal for 30 days.. Farmhouse Culture, Bubbie’s and Rejuvenative Foods are great brands. These have to be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and should have the terms “live cultures” “raw” and “un-pasteurized” on the jar. Or make your own – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJR0-WJ19Ug (it really is so so simple!)
You can also check out how to make your own kefir at home – another great way to get probiotics in their whole food form.
Especially now during the holiday season when all of our guts could likely use some extra loving, give this food prescription a shot and feel the magic start to happen in your gut! I know some of you will give this a quick read and dismiss it because you don’t like sauerkraut – give it a try – your gut will thank you.