Best Foods with Probiotics That Will Make You Fantastic

You must be hearing about probiotics and its wondrous benefits everywhere. We’re here to tell you; they are right! Probiotics are basically live microorganisms that fight the good fight in your gut, keeping you healthy and happy. In fact, there are so many benefits to foods with probiotics from digestive benefits to mental health; it would be bad for you if you don’t integrate them in your diet from now on. So, you must be wondering, what are the best foods with probiotics? In our list, you’ll be learning about them but also important info about probiotics as a whole.

Note: This article named “Best Foods with Probiotics That Will Make You Fantastic” was served after a throughout research on foods with probiotics, their benefits and usage. Still, we have to indicate that the content of this article should not be considered as medical advice. Please reach out to a professional health consultant, if you have serious health problems.

Before we get to our list of best foods with probiotics, let’s take a look at the benefits of probiotics.

Benefits of Probiotics

• Probiotics help your good bacteria in your gut.

As we’ve mentioned there are live microorganism in probiotics that help your gut to function better and protect your digestive system. (1) In fact, if you don’t have enough good bacteria in your gut because of poor diet, antibiotics and illnesses; you won’t only suffer from poor digestion but also suffer from weight problems, mental health, bad skin and poor cardiovascular health. (2)

• If you have diarrhea, probiotics help you treat it.

One of the most common benefits of foods with probiotics is their ability to prevent and treat digestive problems like diarrhea. Several studies are proving the benefit of probiotics in the digestion system both for adults and children. (3) (4)

• Probiotics also keep your heart healthy.

Did you know this? Yeah, probiotics are amazing not only for your gut but for your entire body.

Probiotics may help your heart by lowering bad cholesterol like LDL and keep your blood pressure low. Check out these studies to learn more about heart health and probiotics. (5) (6) (7)

• Foods with probiotics help your mental health.

Helping mental health is an overlooked benefit of probiotics. In fact, there is one study that links gut health and sad mood. (8)

One study actually showed how effective probiotics are to improve anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and memory abilities. (9) If you suffer from any of these mental illnesses, you should integrate foods with probiotics in your diet.

• Probiotics help you have healthier and smoother skin.

You may have problems with acne as most people do and one of the best things you can help your skin goes through eating a healthy and balanced diet. In fact, probiotics give you smoother skin and also treat skin diseases like eczema and allergies. So, how does this work? Probiotics reduce inflammation, defend your body against bacteria and yeasts that cause these skin problems. (10)

If you are pregnant, having a healthy probiotic diet can lower your baby’s risk of eczema by 83% in the first two years of his or her life. (11) Also, the benefits include children and babies too! (12)

• To boost your immune system, you can eat foods with probiotics.

Probiotics help your immune cells to be more diversified and efficient. This is important because eating more probiotic foods prevent colds, the flu and those sort of infections. (13)

Also, if you take probiotics and prebiotics together, they are much more effective to boost your immune system, prevent diseases and fight against inflammation. (14)

• Probiotics help you lose weight and belly fat.

There is this research that shows women who drank fermented milk products lost up to 8.5% of their belly fat over 12 weeks. (15) Also, some probiotics stop dietary fat from being absorbed in the gut. (16)

Last but not least, probiotics make you feel full, burn calories and hold on to less fat by increasing hormone levels. (17)

Side Effects of Probiotics

After we’ve just listed the benefits of probiotics, now we got to talk about some of the possible side effects.

First, headaches. Not everybody gets headaches through consuming foods with probiotics, but still, some biogenic amines that are present in fermented food could; affect your central nervous system and mess up with your blood flow rate, these kinds of changes can lead to headaches or migraines. (18)

Some people can develop allergies due to probiotic consumption because they are sensitive to increased histamine levels. (19) The symptoms are having a runny nose, itchy eyes, or shortness of breath.

Also, some people experience bloating and gas because of probiotics. If your gut has more than enough new good bacteria, the balance will be tipped off, which leads to lots of gas. Keep your probiotic consumption moderate and don’t go overboard.

Diarrhea is one of the side effects of probiotics. But, wait, didn’t we just see that probiotics actually help against diarrhea? Although that’s true, to have a more solid stool, you should also eat foods that are rich in fiber. You should find the perfect balanced diet to prevent your body from illnesses.

Check our list of “27 Super Foods for Weight Loss That Will Make You Lose Belly Fat Quickly!” to see foods with fibers.

In a nutshell, for most people, probiotics have much more benefits than bad side effects. If you don’t have a particular condition, eating a healthy and balanced diet that has enough probiotics can change lots of things in your body in a positive way.

Probiotics Vs Prebiotics

As you know, there are good bacteria in your gut that help you have a healthier body. Probiotics and prebiotics both help your gut to function better and defend against bad bacteria.

Probiotics help digestion, boost the immune system and balance the effects of antibiotics. Compared to probiotics, prebiotics is a bit different; they can be found in fibrous fruits and vegetables as carbs that are non-digestible. In fact, they help the probiotics.

You should know that all prebiotics are fiber, but not all fiber is prebiotic.

Best Foods with Probiotics

Now, it’s time to list the best foods with probiotics. In this list, we have the most well-known probiotics to least-known but equally beneficial probiotics.

Just, keep in mind that you shouldn’t eat too many foods with probiotics; your diet should always be balanced.

1) Yogurt

You knew this was going to be on the top of our list of foods with probiotics. Is yogurt our first choice because of its popularity? Absolutely not! Yogurt deserves all the credit rightfully so. Besides its probiotic-rich content, it’s also an amazing source of protein. It helps you build muscle and also improves your bone health. (20)

As we’ve mentioned in our list of benefits of probiotics, yogurt can help with high blood pressure. (21) Also, if you suffer from diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome, eating yogurt may relieve you.

Be aware that you should stay away from added sugar yogurt and keep your yogurt plain and effective. Also, look for “active or live cultures” on the label.

2) Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk beverage made by adding kefir grains into milk. Just because it’s in second place, doesn’t make this any less beneficial. In fact, comparing kefir to yogurt, kefir is surprisingly a better source of probiotics because there are more than 60 different species of bacterial and fungal species in kefir. (22) There is a small taste difference, but it does taste sour just like yogurt, and it is more liquid.

Also, if you have a dairy intolerance, kefir can reduce bloating and gas from lactose consumption by 70 percent. (23)

If you want to make kefir at home, check this out!

3) Tempeh

Tempeh is made from soybeans, and it’s a vegan favorite food that substitutes for meat.

There are so many benefits to tempeh besides its probiotic content; it’s also rich in protein. So, if you are a vegan or a vegetarian who wants to get fit, tempeh can help you preserve your muscle mass while you shed fat.

Adding to all of that, tempeh doesn’t forget about micronutrients like iron, potassium, magnesium, and essential amino acids.

Tempeh is one of the most comprehensive foods with probiotics.

4) Sauerkraut

You probably had sauerkraut with a hot dog. Now, that you are thinking to add it to your diet, you have to get rid of the hot dog and keep the sauerkraut. That’s because dry sauerkraut has amazing benefits to gut health! Keep in mind that, don’t buy canned sauerkraut and sauerkraut with vinegar because the process of canning gets rid of the benefits of it.

The benefits of sauerkraut are; belly fat loss, boosting both gut health and immune system, also reducing cholesterol levels.

Besides being rich in probiotics, it’s also full of fiber and vitamins like B, C, and K. Also, it contains iron, manganese, and antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin; they are both helpful for eye health. (24)

5) Miso

Miso is made from barley, soybeans, or rice, and you can use miso in soups or salads but also experiment a bit with meat and seafood. In most cases, miso is salty, so you can use it with your food without adding salt.

Miso is a food that helps your digestion, boosts your immune system, and even reduces the risk of some types of cancer. (25) (26)

Also, it’s quite nutritious because it contains all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. We can’t forget to mention it has vitamin K, copper, and manganese.

6) Kimchi

Kimchi is an Asian side dish like miso, but instead of fibrous food, it’s made from fermented cabbage with spices and herbs. In fact, the seasonings include red chili pepper flakes, ginger, salt, garlic, and scallion. You should know that kimchi is quite spicy, consider this when you put it on the side of your main dish.

Remember that one of the benefits of foods with probiotics is to help you lose weight besides keeping your gut healthy. There is a study you should check proving that eating kimchi results in weight loss. (27)

Besides being full of probiotics, this side dish also has vitamin K, B2, and iron.

7) Pickles

By pickles, we mean pickles in saltwater and not vinegar; just like in sauerkraut, vinegar stops the growth of microorganisms that are helpful for your gut. Also, the pickled vegetables must be fermented if not the probiotics won’t be formed in your pickles.

Pickles are pretty well-known by everybody; it has vitamin K and low calorie; you won’t be having a hard time, including pickles in your diet.

Keep in mind that, if you want to have less sodium in your diet, picking something else instead of pickles can be better.

8) Kombucha

Kombucha is a drink made with tea and a symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria. The friendly bacteria and yeast help you have a better functioning gut.

Be aware that some brands include more sugar than wanted, so it would be best if you can make your own.

Make your own with this starter pack; check it out!

9) Buttermilk

Buttermilk is made by adding a bacteria culture to milk.

Be aware that not all buttermilk is rich in probiotics; in fact, most American buttermilks don’t have the benefits of probiotics. To find the probiotic-rich buttermilk, check the label and find “active cultures” written on it.

Besides being low in fat, it also contains vitamin B12, riboflavin, phosphorus, and calcium.

We’ve come to the end of our list, even though there are more foods with probiotics, these should be enough for you.

In Conclusion

One way or another, it’s vital for you to make foods with probiotics a stable in your diet. As we’ve mentioned, there are so many benefits to probiotics more than only helping your gut to function better.

Nevertheless, don’t eat too much; keep it balanced! Also, now that you’ve learned all these international probiotic foods, it would be a shame not to use all this knowledge!

Could you let us know in the comments, which foods with probiotics are going to be in your diet from now on?

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