Probiotics are live microbes that improve health when eaten. Typically, probiotics are useful bacteria, and they aid brain and body health when consumed.
Evidence suggests that probiotics may foster heart health, aid the digestive system, lessen the symptoms of depression as well as even give your skin some glow.
Probiotics are typically obtained from supplements, but they can as well be derived from specific fermented foods. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at five probiotic foods that are remarkably beneficial to the body.
Note that every food in this list passed critical evaluation tests and met specific criteria.
Yogurt is arguably the most popular source of probiotics, and it’s worth it.
Yogurt is processed from milk that’s been exposed to helpful bacterial organisms for fermentation. The most common of these organisms are bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria.
Many health benefits are attributed to eating Yoghurt. Research has shown that regular consumption of Yoghurt helps hypertensive patients to manage pressure better. What’s more, Yoghurt plays a defining role in the development of strong bones in the body. Not to forget, Yoghurt is as well advised for people who are intolerant to lactose. This is basically due to the ability of the contained bacteria to convert excess lactose to lactic acid. Does this explain why Yoghurt is sour to taste?
In children, meanwhile, Yoghurt is beneficial in the treatment of diarrhea caused by antibiotics, and as well, aids the relief of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Some bacteria are killed during processing. You should hence exercise proper care when shopping for your probiotics as some yogurt does not contain live bacteria. A helpful cue is to ensure you pick Yoghurt with live or active cultures. In case you are unsure of how to do so, go through the label or just request from the shopkeeper. Conclusively, avoid Yoghurt with high sugar levels.
Tempeh is the end product of putting soybeans through fermentation. Although tempeh is Indonesian food, it has since gained popularity across the world as an alternative to high-protein meat. This delicacy is usually a firm patty with an earthy, mushy flavor, although some say a mushroom would be a better description.
Ordinarily, soybeans hinder the body’s ability to absorb crucial nutrients, such as zinc and iron, due to its high levels of phytic acid, a plant compound. Fermentation, however, strikes out this problem by lessening the volume of this compound, thereby improving the body’s capability to derive more nutrients from tempeh and other foods rich in zinc or iron.
Tempeh is also full of Vitamin B12, a rare nutrient that can not be obtained from soybeans itself and can only be sourced from animal products like dairy, eggs, meat, and fish. This vitamin contains high protein levels and hence helps to bolster the immune system and other body functions.
This makes tempeh excellent food for vegetarians as well as any person who recognizes the unique benefits obtainable from probiotics.
Kefir has Turkish origins. The name is said to have been derived from the Turkish word “keyif,” which loosely translates to “feeling good after eating.”
Kefir is a fermented milk drink produced by mixing cow or goat milk to Kefir grains.
Kefir grains are not cereals, as you may be thinking. They are cultures of lactic acid bacteria and yeast and bear some semblance to cauliflower.
Indeed, Yoghurt is the no. 1 go-to probiotic food in the Western diet, but it isn’t as nutritional as Kefir. The latter possesses several strains of beneficial bacteria and yeast, thereby offering more potent benefits. Eating Kefir has been associated with several significant health benefits, some of which are protection against infections, improvement of bone health, and solving digestive problems.
Lastly, Kefir is also tolerated by people who are intolerant to lactose.
As the name suggests, Miso is a Japanese cuisine obtained by causing soybeans to ferment with salt and a select type of fungi known as koji. Miso is also obtainable by adding specific ingredients like rye, rice, and barley to soybeans.
Miso naturally has a salty taste and is generally used as a paste in miso soup, a typical breakfast meal in Japan. It is available for purchase in many colors like brown, yellow, white, and red.
Miso contains high levels of vital minerals, nutrients, and compounds, some of which are Vitamin K, copper, and manganese. This food is as well an excellent source of fiber and protein. As such, Miso is known for specific health benefits.
In a study on middle-aged Japanese women, there was ample evidence to suggest that regular consumption of miso soup contributes to a lower risk of breast cancer. In another research, it was realized that people who eat miso soup often were less susceptible to stroke.
Buttermilk pertains to a range of fermented dairy drinks. There are, however, two types of buttermilk, namely cultured and traditional.
Cultured buttermilk refers to factory-refined dairy drinks usually found on the shelves of American supermarkets and offers no probiotic benefits.
Traditional buttermilk, on the other hand, is simply the leftover liquid from the butter production process. Despite its status, however, this type of buttermilk offers probiotic advantages and is hence recommended by nutritional experts. It is generally taken in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Buttermilk may be low in fats and calories, but it provides the body with valuable minerals and vitamins, for example, phosphorus, Vitamin B12, calcium, and riboflavin.
Probiotics have incredible health benefits. Thankfully, there are over 30 foods you can eat to enjoy these unique windfalls. We have highlighted the top 5 above, but there are a lot more, some of which are sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, pickles, natto, and cottage cheese—all are numerous variations of fermented dairy, soybeans, and vegetables.
If you are, however, unable or unwilling to try out probiotic foods, you can buy probiotic supplements in specialized shops. After all, probiotics, whether as foods or supplements, have substantial impacts on health.