Kid Friendly Probiotics

 

Kid Friendly Probiotics

By Madelene Sears

We can all benefit from eating a healthy and balanced diet that includes plenty of fresh, organic produce like leafy greens and fresh fruit. What many people don’t know is that a healthy diet includes something called probiotics. Probiotics are a type of friendly bacteria that prevent overgrowth of foreign or harmful types of bacteria, like yeast. Probiotics are also known as enzymes. Enzymes work to speed up certain chemical reactions in your digestive system. These types of chemical reactions include absorption, digestion and excretion. Probiotics live on cultured foods, or foods that are biologically active and living. 

By incorporating probiotics into our daily diet we can help promote growth of these special bacteria. Certain foods contain probiotics, each having their own strain or family. In order to include a variety of strains of probiotics, we should eat a variety of foods every day. Our body requires thousands and thousands of different types of probiotic bacteria in order to function in the proper and healthiest manner.

A few types of cultured foods:
Miso
Raw Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Fermented vegetables
Fermented seeds, such as fermented soybeans, aka tempeh
Plain Yogurt
Kefir
Kombucha, a fermented mushroom tea
Apple Cider Vinegar

Probiotics help the body to:
Absorb nutrients from your food properly so as to support different metabolic pathways.

Eliminate toxins that are obtained from certain foods we eat and our surrounding environment.

Make our bellies feel more comfortable by expelling gas, bloating and irregular digestion.

Feel more energized and alert throughout our busy day by diminishing sluggish digestion, which can lead to constipation or irregular bowel movements

Are you now feeling excited about fermented foods? Well make sure you join us on October 2 for the Austin Fermentation Festival! More info here. Resources: “Natural Healing Wisdom & Know-How” by Amy Rost & “The Beauty Detox Foods” by Kimberly Snyder