Many researchers and health care providers are now claiming that the health of your gut has a very important role in the prevention of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease.
Pretty crazy right? If you’re one of the millions of people disregarding your digestive health, it may be time to start taking it more seriously.
One simple way to improve the health your gut, is to increase your intake of probiotics, the healthy bacteria that reside in your digestive tract.
What are Probiotics?
While this may come as a surprise, your gut is home to a thriving ecosystem of 3-4 pounds of bacteria.
Since some of these microbes are pathogenic, looking to piggyback off of you for their own good, it’s important to ensure that your microbe balance favours “good” bacteria.
Ingesting probiotics found in food and supplements improves the levels of “good” bacteria in your gut, and prevents the overgrowth of “bad” bacteria.
Why Naturopath ‘s Recommend Probiotics
Boosting your probiotic count has wide-ranging effects that improve your health in numerous ways.
First and foremost, probiotics help to repair your gut health, which improves absorption of nutrients and consistency and bowel movements. Specifically, probiotic supplementation has been found to improve symptoms in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Probiotics also help to offset some of the potentially nasty side effects of taking antibiotics (particularly diarrhea!).
Another benefit of probiotic supplementation is their immune boosting effects. In fact, regular probiotic consumption has been found to prevent frequent colds and flus. They may also have a role in the prevention of eczema and allergies.
In addition to digestive and immune health benefits, new research is now showing that there may be an association between gut microflora and mental health, as well as cardiovascular health!
Whether it’s improving your mental, heart or digestive health, or reducing the severity of allergies, there are more reasons than ever for why probiotics are great for you.
Naturopath Approved Probiotic-Rich Foods
Probiotics are great for you. We understand that.
But where can you get them? The main natural source of probiotics is in fermented foods.
Whether you are a fan of yogurt, kefir, kombucha, or kimchi, getting more of these fermented foods in your diet is a great start to improving your digestive health.
You can also take a probiotic supplement, in capsule or powder form.
Also ensure that you are eating lots of prebiotic foods (ie. food for the “good” bacteria) which include garlic, onion, asparagus, banana, leeks, barley, oats, apples, Jerusalem artichoke, and dandelion greens.
To book an appointment with a Naturopath at Juniper Family Health, please contact the clinic at 778-265-8340 or info@juniperfamilyhealth.com or click here to book online.