By Riley Corboy
Health trends come and go, with various levels of credibility, but one trend that should actually stick around is probiotics. These suckers pack a punch. Everyone has a microbiome full of good and bad microbes fighting to keep us healthy. Several things can cause this balance to be thrown off (we’re looking at you, antibiotics) and can make you violently ill, so it’s really important to regularly fuel your body with prebiotics and probiotics.
Aside from maintaining a good balance, paying attention to your gut health is a good idea because so much of your body is impacted by it. Over 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut, after all, so building up healthy bacteria through probiotics can help prevent you from getting sick as often. On top of that, 95 percent of your serotonin (the happy chemical in your brain) is created by these bacteria, too! So by focusing more on your gut health, you could potentially experience a host of other good side effects.
There are several ways to increase your intake of probiotics. You could take supplements like Culturelle, or foods specifically designed to have high levels of probiotic strains, such as GoodBelly’s products. If supplements aren’t your scene or your doctor advises against them, plenty of fermented foods are also naturally high in probiotics. These are things like yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, kefir, and kimchi.
It is surprisingly easy to swap these items into your daily routine, and your gut will thank you for it. Actually, your whole body will.
Featured image is from EndoMune.
The Spread 