#1 Detox Secret: Probiotics

What is the best way to keep your gut happy and healthy? One word: probiotics. Probiotics are essential bacteria that help maintain the natural balance of organisms in our intestines. Whether its through supplements or food, you should be consuming a probiotic every single day. For those of you who did not know, probiotics preserve a clean intestinal tract as well as a strong immune system. If that doesn't convince you, research has shown that they can help battle a vast variety of medical conditions including allergies, cholesterol (helps raise the good kind- HDL), colon cancer, acid reflux, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, and even acne. 

An average person has around four hundred different species of friendly bacteria in their digestive tract, and if that person is healthy, he or she should have 80-85% friendly bacteria. However, when there is an excess amount of unfriendly bacteria in our bodies it depletes the good bacteria, leading to the disorder known as dysbiosis. This imbalance occurs when one eats a lot of meat and dairy products containing high levels of antibiotics, drinks chlorinated water, and frequently takes over the counter drugs or birth control pills. In such cases, probiotic foods and supplements can help re-colonize the essential microorganisms in our gut.

http://knightnews.com/2012/10/
kombucha-your-way-to-better-health/

Personally, I’m not a fan of taking supplements when I can get the full benefit through foods that naturally contain probiotics. So I prefer drinking a cup of Kombucha a day, or eating some sauerkraut for lunch with a piece of lean chicken breast. Here are a few foods that are naturally high in probiotics: kimchi, Kombucha, sauerkraut, apples, Kefir (if possible, get goats milk kefir), almond milk or coconut milk yogurt. 

http://dishcookingstudio.com/try-these-new-fresh-pickles-
from-sonoma-brinery-in-the-dish-pantry/

These are not for everyone, therefore if you feel like a probiotic supplement works better for you, make sure to choose wisely because many of them are not as effective as they could be. The whole point of probiotics is to carry the wholesome portion of live cells into the intestines, but our stomachs are designed to kill a good portion of the live cells before they can even reach the intestine. That is why it’s important to find a supplement that works like sauerkraut for example since it is absorbed right away by the digestive system, going directly into the intestines. The most common strain of probiotic supplement is Bifidobacterium bifidum, which is known for its high amount of bacteria content.

Although the supplements may seem much easier to incorporate in your daily lives, the best way is to ingest probiotics through the common foods I listed earlier. It is the most natural and reliable way!

Try probiotics and let me know what you think!

Great websites with a bit of info on this subject:
http://www.fitsugar.com/Foods-Naturally-High-Probiotics-Good-Bacteria-20370089
http://www.northjersey.com/news/187072331_Probiotics__the_good-fo-you_bacteria_.html