Many people don’t know that there are many foods out there that contain pre and probiotics naturally. These are what should be eaten often to support those gut crawlies (flora, microbiomes) and help your digestion. So, if you’re saying, “Yeah, I actually am having digestive issues and trust me it’s not overly pretty!” then these kinds of foods and supplements might be a good place to start. Gluten does hurt your stomach if it’s something your body just shouldn’t be having. It can be easier and cheaper to go this route rather than buying the pre and probiotic supplements but sometimes you still need to do that depending on what you can handle eating or not eating. If you are just getting into this way of living and your gut needs to start with some extra help then I do recommend getting some supplements.

To start, Prebiotic foods. These foods contain fermentable fibers and these fibers go through the digestive tract, which are undigested, and feed the healthy, good bacteria that are in the colon. Some great foods are almonds, asparagus, bananas, beans, beets, bok choy(which is a Chinese cabbage), cabbage, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, cashews, cherries, chickpeas, corn, fennel, garlic, leafy greens in general are great, lentils, mangos, nectarines, onions, peas, pistachios, plantains, pomegranate and sweet potatoes.

Now, onto the Probiotic foods. These foods have live, active cultures that help grow the population of healthy bacteria in the gut. There aren’t as many foods with natural probiotics to them which is why taking a supplement tends to be the easier route for people but if you love these foods then eat them up! Kefir, kimchee(Korean dish of salted and fermented veggies), kombucha(fermented black tea drink), miso(fermented soybean paste), raw honey, sauerkraut, gluten-free soy sauce and of course yogurt.

I don’t tend to use prebiotic supplements as for me it is pretty easy to eat these naturally. I do tend to take a probiotic supplement from time to time just because I know I don’t eat as much of those things in my diet. Some probiotic brands I highly recommend are Garden of Life and Renew Life, I have used Doctor’s Recipes(this one I linked actually has prebiotic and enzymes in it as well) which is a little more affordable but not necessarily my favorite, but is a great choice if you are not wanting to break the bank so much. I have also used Physician’s Choice and that’s also not a bad option money wise. There are different variations(women’s, vaginal, men’s, mood, kids, extra care, raw, etc.) to these probiotics, so you’ll need to figure out which one will work best for you. The reason why I am giving my recommendation is because not every probiotic is equal. Not all of them can survive the whole digestive process, you want ones that are going to make it through the stomach acid and make it to the gut. My recommendation is to use nothing less than 50 billion CFU(Colony Forming Units) which is the live, active number of bacteria present in the supplement. If you are just starting with the whole probiotic thing, I’d suggest starting with 20 or 30 Billion CFU and then work your way up as you could become gassy and have some other unpleasant issues as the good bacteria are trying to get rid of a lot of the bad. I have provided links for the probiotics but look around and find the one that makes the most sense for you as far as where you are right now.

Also, digestive enzymes are another great things to have! I use these Papaya tablets which have been life savers when I ate something that just didn’t agree with me or just needed a little extra help.

Remember, I am not a doctor I am going by my own experiences and what I researched and tried for myself. So, always check with a doctor if you are concerned about starting or trying different things.