Do you eat enough probiotic foods? Do you eat any?

I have been recently reminded about the importance of probiotics. Did you know that consuming probiotic foods can help heal your gut? I know, this sound vague. But when we heal our gut, we heal other parts of our bodies as well. Healing our gut can help reduce inflammation, reduce symptoms of allergies, asthma, arthritis, even improve mood.

Somehow, I have been neglecting this one part of my diet even though I should know better. And if you are reading this, likely you have too. So, I decided to carry out an experiment: drink kefir each day (well, most of the days) and see if I notice any changes. I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now and here’s how it’s going:

There are 2 days a week when I have to get up and go in about 20 minutes and I haven’t figured out how to incorporate my kefir ritual into my morning routine on those days yet. But other days are easier: I wake up, drink a cup of coffee (yes, I know, on an empty stomach, but milk helps), then about 20 mins later I drink a cup of kefir. That is my early breakfast. It leaves me full and lets me push my normal breakfast to a later time.

Why do I drink it in the morning? Because drinking kefir on an (almost) empty stomach allows all the good bacteria to get where it needs to go faster and do it’s magic before we fill our bodies with food.

What I have noticed in the last weeks is that I feel less and less hungry (possibly because it helps regulate blood sugar), I also don’t bloat anymore if I don’t eat for a few hours. Previously my body was used to me eating smaller meals but more often, which worked really well for me for the longest time, however, if for whatever reason I had to stay without food for longer period of time (travel, work, etc.), I would get bloated and the bloating would only go away after I ate. Now since I added kefir to my morning routine, it looks like the good bacteria is doing its job and I don’t get bloated anymore.

Another thing that it has helped me with is constipation. With all the healthy eating, all hydration, etc., this was one issue I just could not figure out. Until I realized that while I was getting good amounts of fiber in my diet, I was drinking plenty of water, I forgot about fermented goodies that our bellies need so much.

The result:

Now, after almost a month of drinking kefir daily, I can tell you my constipation is gone, bloating is gone, my energy levels are great and I feel like I need way less food daily. No more snacking, no more constant thoughts of food running through my head. I feel way better and this will definitely be the habit I keep for as long as it works for me.

How do you feel about adding probiotic foods to your diet now?

Let me know in the comments.

If you would like to know more about the benefits of probiotics, here is an article about it: