Gut health is a key component of overall health.
We know that our gut needs to get probiotics for a good balance of healthy gut bacteria, but probiotic supplements don’t appear to be an effective alternative to real food.
A recent study in Copenhagen found that healthy patients saw no gain in gut flora while taking supplements. In fact, it found that probiotic supplements are not effective for most patients. Instead, people should stick to getting probiotics from food.
Forbes recently discussed the findings with gut expert, Dr. Robin Benzin in their article, Probiotic Supplements May Be A Waste Of Time, Here’s The Diet You Need To Supercharge Your Gut. Check out this quote:
“Your gut health is the number one vital sign of your overall health––70% of your immune system and 95% of your serotonin in your body are in your gut. From immunity to mood we know that digestive health is essential.”
Diet seems to be the most effective means for ensuring a healthy intestinal microbiota. Notes Dr. Berzin, “At Parsley if your symptom score is 0 and you feel great, we don’t recommend taking a probiotic. We simply recommend maintaining your healthy micriobiome (your unique environment of bacteria) with a high-fiber, unprocessed and low-sugar diet.”
We love that, a high-fiber, unprocessed and low-sugar diet, in other words, a good whole food diet. It doesn’t get much better than that.
The article goes on to say that the best foods for your gut bacteria are bone broth, kimchi, kefir, kraut, and yogurt.
The article also says that our guts are unique like a fingerprint, which makes it nearly impossible to find a probiotic supplement that would work for the masses.
Let us know what your favourite probiotic-rich food is in the comments below.
