Speaker A [00:00:00]:
Hi, everyone. Hope you’re doing well today. I want to talk today about probiotics and prebiotics. You guys know that at Paralysis Nutrition, we are all about gut health and bowel health and weight loss and just living the healthiest life possible, right, with paralysis. So today we’re going to talk a little bit about the gut, but mostly about probiotics and prebiotics. What are they? Where do we find them? Let’s get started.
Speaker B [00:00:33]:
Welcome to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast, where changing your eating habits is the key to losing weight, improving bowel health, and feeling your best. I’m your host, Fatima Fakouri. I’m a registered dietitian who’s married to a quadriplegic and specializes in nutrition for paralysis. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and motivated so you can take control of your health using the power of food. Let’s get started.
Speaker A [00:00:57]:
This.
Speaker B [00:00:57]:
This is the Paralysis Nutrition podcast.
Speaker A [00:01:01]:
So when I say the word probiotic, what comes to mind? Are you thinking about certain foods or are you thinking about supplements? Because probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria, exist in both supplement form and food form. So there are fermented foods that contain good bacteria and their source of probiotics. These are good for your gut. Your gut has trillions of bacteria and organisms that contribute to overall either wellness or not wellness or disease. And so in the gut, we have good beneficial bacteria and we have pathogenic or bad bacteria. We want to support the good bacteria in our gut so that this good bacteria can not just survive, but also multiply. We want our good bacteria to be fed, right? And so when I say probiotics, I’m referring to good bacteria that can come from food, from fermented foods, or from supplements. So let’s talk about fermented foods.
Speaker A [00:02:28]:
There are fermented foods such as yogurt that probably everyone has heard of, right? Everyone knows yogurt has active cultures and stuff like that. Yogurt is a great source of probiotics. It’s also a good source of protein and calcium. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and I’m a big fan. I like the Greek yogurt or the Icelandic yogurt that is a bit thicker. It has a lower water content, so it’s basically a thicker consistency, but it’s also much higher in protein. So yogurt is a good source of probiotics. Another really good source of probiotics is kefir.
Speaker A [00:03:13]:
You may not have heard of kefir. Kefir is a cultured milk like drink. It’s almost like a Shake. So it’s like a yogurty drink. My husband loves kefir. We buy different flavors. They also sell plain kefir. It’s quite tart, so you have to get used to the taste.
Speaker A [00:03:34]:
My husband likes to mix, like, in a cup, he’ll put half of the plain kefir and then half of, like, a flavored one, just to cut down a little bit on the sugar. But to be honest, if kefir is the only or very few sources of added sugar that you’re eating in a typical day, it’s not a big deal. So kefir is a cultured milk product, and it also contains a lot of beneficial bacteria. My husband often eats his chia seeds soaked in kefir overnight. Kind of makes like a little chia pudding. It helps with bowels. You can also use it in smoothies. You can drink it straight.
Speaker A [00:04:16]:
In the summertime, we make popsicles from it. Even my kids like them. So yogurt and kefir are my top picks for fermented foods that contain probiotics. There are other foods that are also fermented and contain probiotics, but they’re not as concentrated and they’re not as highly regulated in terms of, like, the food companies making sure that there’s enough bacteria. You know, there’s certain numbers of bacteria, I should say, in each serving. There’s also not a lot of information or guarantee of which strains of bacteria, because there are many, many different strains of bacteria. So when you eat yogurt or you eat kefir, or I should say drink kefir, you know, if you read on the package, it will tell you approximately like, how many, or it will at least tell you what type. Like, is it lactobacillus? What type of strains does that food contain? When you buy these other fermented foods, such as I’m not going to name them all.
Speaker A [00:05:28]:
You can do a Google search and find the list. But other foods that are considered probiotic are olives, miso, sauerkraut, tempeh. Tempeh is a fermented soy product similar to tofu, but different. It’s different. It’s not tofu. It’s similar. So these are other foods that contain probiotics, but they’re not as tightly controlled by their manufacturers as yogurt and kefir. So we do yogurt and kefir very regularly.
Speaker A [00:06:08]:
My husband will at least eat one serving of those foods every single day. But we also do these other foods like olives and sauerkraut. Pretty often. Not every day, but we like to include them. You want to make sure that you’re buying the refrigerated version of these foods. So if there is a shelf stable bottle or can. I should say jar. Jar or can of olives.
Speaker A [00:06:37]:
If it’s on the supermarket shelf in the middle aisles, those olives do not contain live bacteria. You need to go to the refrigerated section and get the olives that they have there. Okay. Because in order for there to be live bacteria, it needs to be refrigerated. The same goes for sauerkraut. The same goes for pickles. Okay. So those are your fermented foods that contain probiotics.
Speaker A [00:07:05]:
The supplements that contain probiotics are probiotics. Right? You’ve seen them in the stores. In my programs, I recommend high quality kind of. I don’t. I mean, they’re not the ones that you buy at cvs. I’m not going to say specific brands because they’re not sponsoring me. So I’m not going to state the brands on the podcast. But the shelf stable probiotics that you see for $5, $7 in the grocery store or in your local pharmacy, these are not going to be high quality sources of probiotics.
Speaker A [00:07:44]:
The refrigerated probiotics that are in your health food store or in your. I mean, some, I guess some pharmacies maybe carry this stuff, but where I live, you have to go to either a specialty food store or like a supplement, not supplement store.
Speaker B [00:08:03]:
What are they called?
Speaker A [00:08:04]:
Like the. I don’t know what you even call them. The natural food store or like the specialty stores that carry these things. So probiotics come from foods, right? We went through the foods and they also come from supplements. I do believe that a high quality probiotic. I shouldn’t say believe. I know. I know that a high quality probiotic is going to help all of my clients with their goals.
Speaker A [00:08:36]:
Because when you have the goal of like, losing weight, reducing inflammation, having a strong immune system, having an easier bowel program, reducing bloating, you really need the support. And this, the probiotic supplements really can help you. So the probiotics are the good bacteria. When you eat these foods and when you consume these probiotic supplements, you are helping to replenish the good bacteria in your gut. Now, what are prebiotics? We got probiotics and prebiotics. Prebiotics are fibers that help to feed your good bacteria. So probiotics are the bacteria, right? The foods that contain the bacteria or supplement that contains the bacteria and the prebiotics feed those bacteria. So in your gut, you have these lovely gut bugs that need prebiotic fibers, and different gut bugs eat different fibers.
Speaker A [00:09:47]:
So it’s really important for you to eat a wide variety of food so that you are feeding all the diverse types of bacteria in your gut. This is why in my programs, I’m always stressing the importance of variety. So if you’re used to eating the same three or four fruits every week, I highly encourage you to switch it up. If every week you buy bananas, apples, and oranges, next week, why don’t we do pears, kiwis, and what’s another fruit? Pears, kiwis, and grapes. Pick a fruit, any fruit. See, when I’m on the spot, I can’t even name fruits. So switch it up. Because every fruit, every vegetable, every whole grain has different nutrients, has different things to offer your gut, right? So we want to make sure that our gut bugs are fed well and they’re fed enough.
Speaker A [00:10:51]:
So eating a wide variety of foods is going to help support a healthy gut. Now, prebiotics, think of them. I said the food, right? For the good bacteria, they’re. They’re the food, they’re the fertilizer, they’re the fuel. However you want to, however you want to see it. Prebiotic foods help to maintain the good gut bugs. And so when it comes to prebiotic foods, again, there are prebiotic in food, and there’s also prebiotic supplements. Not everybody needs a prebiotic fiber supplement.
Speaker A [00:11:32]:
But I think from what people tell me on social media and what people tell me in my programs, most people are not eating a good variety of foods. Okay? Most people are not getting 30 to 40 different varieties of food per week. So I’m sorry. Of fruits, vegetables, whole grains of plants per week. So if you have, you know, constipation, if you have bloating, if you have bowel issues, right. It’s not a bad idea to get a prebiotic fiber supplement. Start off very, very small, and think of it as, this is feeding my good gut bugs, okay? So these prebiotics, they’re not digested in your body. They’re not digested.
Speaker A [00:12:26]:
They are helping that good bacteria grow. And there’s lots of different prebiotic foods. Really, it’s going to be your fruits, vegetables, whole grains. But the ones that really are potent are like berries, any type of berry, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas. It’s better if they are not quite fully ripe. So if they’re, if they’re green, those are, those are Even better. Tomatoes, oats. So like oatmeal, right? Beans.
Speaker A [00:13:03]:
Any kind of beans. Chickpeas, lentils. These are very, very good prebiotic sources. Also, oh, whole grains. So like all whole grains that are cooked and then cooled, right? Things like quinoa and farro and brown rice. Flaxseeds. So I talk a lot about nuts and seeds in my programs because they’re a really good source of fiber. But flaxseeds in particular are a great source of prebiotics.
Speaker A [00:13:41]:
Garlic. I love garlic. If it says three cloves of garlic in the recipe, I mean, I’m gonna put six, but always double the garlic. Love it. Garlic. And also leeks. So leeks are, if you’re not familiar, leeks are very large. They look like the same as like spring onions, but they’re much, much larger.
Speaker A [00:14:03]:
I love leeks. They have such a fresh taste. If you’ve had potato leek soup, you know what that is. But you probably haven’t bought leeks in a very long time. And they’re not expensive. It’s nice to, I think, experiment with these different things. I use leeks in, what do you call it? If I make like a quiche, I love it. We also just use them in place of spring onions because they’re so good.
Speaker A [00:14:31]:
Also artichokes. Artichokes are a fantastic source of prebiotic foods. We eat the. I mean, I love whole, you know, artichokes that you steam. But I’ll be honest, it’s a lot of work to do that, to trim them and prepare them. So these days we buy canned artichokes. They’re quartered and they are, they are in water. So they’re, you know, they’re pretty, just easy to use.
Speaker A [00:15:02]:
I just strain them and we use them in pastas. I use them, I roast them in the oven. We use them for dips. Artichokes are really good. It might seem like, oh, I like those, but I never make them. Well now, no excuse because I gave you my trick. Buy them canned. They’re totally fine.
Speaker A [00:15:23]:
They come out actually quite good. And it’s so easy. And again, like beans and chickpeas, those things are canned too. Tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes, you can use frozen berries. They sell a lot of like the grains, you know, pre cooked or whatever. So it’s not that hard, right, to get the prebiotic foods. But if you don’t know which foods have it, then it’ll be hard, right, because you don’t know what you do. So prebiotic foods, those you know, that’s like a good list of things, but really like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, plants like these things feed your gut.
Speaker A [00:16:03]:
And so when you have a good mix of probiotic and prebiotic foods in your diet, your gut will be a lot happier. So many people take a drugstore probiotic and think, oh, well, I take a probiotic, everything’s great. That’s not true. So nutrition first, food first. But we do also have these high quality, potent probiotic supplements and prebiotic fiber supplements out there. And if you’re a person who is kind of slow to get started with changing your eating habits, using these supplements could help you better balance your gut bacteria. So that’s today’s episode. I hope you learned something new.
Speaker A [00:16:58]:
Probiotics, prebiotics, all the good bacteria, all the good fertilizer for the back, for the, for the good bacteria to grow. This is so essential not just for your bowels, that’s probably like the number one thing, but also for your mood, right? 95% of serotonin, which is, you know, your happy neurotransmitter, is produced in the gut. 70 or 80%, I think it’s 80% of your immune system is housed in the gut. So take care of your gut and your gut will take care of the rest of your body. That’s it for today. Thank you guys so much and I will talk to you next time.
Speaker B [00:17:38]:
That’s our episode for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new. Remember, if you want to lose weight with paralysis, improve your bowel health and feel your best you can. It’s possible you just have to change your eating habit. If you need inspiration on how to get started, check out the paralysis Nutrition Cookbook. 101 recipes to help you lose weight.
Speaker A [00:18:00]:
And improve bowel health.
Speaker B [00:18:01]:
The cookbook comes with a bonus 30 day meal plan and is the perfect way to start eating healthier. You can find it online@paralysisnutrition.com cookbook.
Speaker A [00:18:11]:
I’ll talk to you again soon.
