How Diversifying Probiotic Sources Can Help Optimize Gut Health*

Live strains of healthy bacteria, or probiotics, help support digestion, gut health, immune function, and even mood.* Given all they do for us, it's only fair that these gut-friendly bugs are a bit high maintenance. While a serving of pickled veggies and bubbly kombucha can be good for you, just getting your probiotics from one or two sources won't quite do the trick for long-term gut health.

When other lifestyle factors, like diet and stress levels, are not managed properly, or someone is in need of specific probiotic strains, registered dietitian Ella Davar, R.D., CDN, recommends taking a probiotic supplement. 

Supplements can be especially helpful after recent changes in dietary habits or travel she says. Since these changes in lifestyle and routine can often lead to dysbiosis (an imbalance of gut bacteria), probiotic supplements can help even it back out.*

"The probiotics are like good cops," Robert Rountree, M.D., renowned integrative physician, previously told mbg. "We're putting in the good cops, and the good cops can keep watch over the bad guys."*

Eating fermented or other probiotic-rich foods is a good way to reap both nutritional and probiotic benefits, integrative gastroenterologist Marvin Singh, M.D., previously told mbg. 

"I generally like to recommend foods like fermented vegetables, such as Japanese miso, olives, beets, carrots, pickles (made without sugar), sauerkraut, kimchi, and tofu," Davar says. Other foods like apple cider vinegar, kombucha, kefir, and plain yogurt with live cultures can also benefit the gut. 

Prebiotics are nondigestible dietary fibers that help provide nourishment for probiotics. In fact, gut health expert Vincent Pedre, M.D., calls prebiotics just as important as probiotics for gut health.*  

Prebiotics help the probiotics flourish by feeding them, and the two work together synergistically, Davar explains. "In other words, prebiotics are breakfast, lunch, and dinner for probiotics, which restores them and can improve GI health."* 

Prebiotic foods include bananas, berries, onions, garlic, leeks, celery, asparagus, artichokes, beans, inulin, and whole-grain foods, to name a few.

The gut microbiome is a high-maintenance system. Because bacteria in our GI tract serve so many functions for human health, they require regular support to function properly.