“Having a healthy gut is essential to your overall health and vitality.”

Having a healthy gut is essential to your overall health and vitality. There is a wealth of information out there to support you in optimising your gut health, but one of the best places to start is with the foods you are eating daily.

“One of the best places to start is with the foods you are eating daily.”

The good news is that there are plenty of gut loving foods making their way to supermarket shelves including kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, coconut yoghurt and bone broth. These foods are all great for your digestive health; Bone broth is rich in essential amino acids and trace minerals offering support to the gut lining, while fermented foods are rich in probiotics which help replace beneficial bacteria in your gut that is constantly being compromised by bacteria of the non-beneficial kind.

Many fermented foods contain a variety of beneficial bacteria (and yeasts) hence it is often beneficial to try and consume a variety of these foods on a daily level to keep up species numbers, their diversity and support a happy, healthy microbiome.

Let’s take a closer look at these energy enhancing probiotic rich foods;

1. Kombucha

Kombucha is a probiotic soda made from tea, sugar and a scoby. A scoby is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast and is an organism that consumes the sugar in the brew and ferments it to create a delicious drink that is great for gut health. It’s easy to make at home, give this recipe a go.

What beneficial bacteria strains live in kombucha?

There is a large diversity of bacteria and yeasts found in a kombucha scoby and this varies depending on where the scoby is found.

“There is a large diversity of bacteria and yeasts found in a kombucha scoby."

The main strain of bacteria found in most kombucha colonies is acetobacter, it’s an aerobic bacteria strain (requiring oxygen) and is what builds the scoby mushroom. Kombucha also contains a unique yeast strain which contributes to the carbonation (fizz) and also the mushroom body of the scoby.

Is kombucha good for everyone?

While kombucha is a great source of beneficial bacteria and yeasts, there are some people we wouldn’t recommend it to.

If you have SIBO it’s best that you avoid kombucha and this applies to all fermented food! For those with SIBO, you need to deal with the overgrowth of bacteria in your gut before adding in any fermented foods. We will talk about this later on in this blog.

“If you have SIBO it’s best that you avoid kombucha and this applies for all fermented food!”

We’d also recommend avoiding kombucha if you have any suspected yeast issues, such as thrush or significant sugar cravings.

2. Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. It is usually quite spicy, although making it yourself means you control the heat. Try making your own with this recipe.

What beneficial bacteria strains live in kimchi?

Kimchi is dominated by bacteria of three different bacteria families: Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Weisella.

3. Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a traditionally prepared dish made with fermented vegetables. It can be expensive to buy from specialist health food stores but is actually really simple to make yourself. We’ve put together this easy recipe to help you make your own ferments at home.

What beneficial bacteria strains live in sauerkraut?

The Lactobacillus bacteria family is the most predominant in sauerkraut, specifically Lactobacillus Plantarum and Lactobacillus Brevis. You’ll also find Leuconostoc Mesenteroides and Pediococcus Pentosaceus.

4. Coconut Yoghurt

If you’re new to introducing probiotic rich foods into your diet, coconut yoghurt is a great place to start. Making your own coconut yoghurt is the best way to add in the right living probiotics for you. Try making this recipe here.

What beneficial bacteria strains live in coconut yoghurt?

The beneficial strains of coconut yoghurt depend on what living probiotic you add to it. This also makes coconut yoghurt extremely versatile as you can add the bacteria that specific to your needs. To find out which bacteria will nurture your gut health most you can get your gut bacteria tested.

“Coconut yoghurt is extremely versatile as you can add the bacteria that specific to your needs.”

In our recipe we have used the BePure Gut Renew Probiotic. This contains 18 strains of beneficial bacteria and a minimum of 30 billion viable bacteria per serving. The strains found in BePure Gut Renew Probiotic include those from the lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families. At the BePure Clinic, these are the strains we see people needing these most.

5. Bone Broth

Bone broth is good for everyone as it contains healing compounds such as glutamine, collagen, proline, glycine and gelatin. These are essential amino acids and trace minerals that work within the intestines to help seal the gut. They're easily absorbed, allowing them to provide cells with the direct building blocks needed to heal the gut lining. Make your own homemade bone broth with this recipe.

When are fermented foods not good for you?

SIBO stands for small intestine bacterial overgrowth. This is where some of the bacteria (this may be beneficial or non-beneficial) moves from the large intestine to the small intestine. Even good bacteria in the wrong place can cause problems.

“Even good bacteria in the wrong place can cause problems.”

The main symptom of SIBO is bloating around the belly button that tends to increase over the day. This type of bloating happens irrelevant of what food you’re eating. This is because the bacteria in the small intestine start to ferment (or break down) food before we’ve had a chance to digest it ourselves.

What can you do if you have SIBO?

Anyone with SIBO should avoid all fermented foods until they’ve had a chance to deal with the bacteria overgrowth.

If you have SIBO it’s important you work on clearing the overgrowth of bacteria. To do this you need to set up the pH of the stomach properly.

Here are some tips:

• Drinking 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar in a small amount of warm water before meals.
• Checking zinc levels and supplement with zinc if required.
• At BePure we have a protocol for a full SIBO intestinal cleanse.