Probiotics what?

Probiotics - so hot right now!

I don't know about you but I am pretty sceptical about supplements. OK super sceptical.  I would usually be the first to say that this whole discussion about gut health and probiotics (so cool right now) is a supplements scam designed specifically to get us to buy yet more vitamins.

BUT, I have to say I was a little curious - what does my own personal biome mean to my overall health? Is it unbalanced? How is it really impacting me? So after reading a bit more into it, doing some research and practicing the art of taking probiotics, I have to say I am a convert. And here's why:  

Good Guys, Bad Guys and Very Bad Guys

I'm sure you've already heard (from countless articles and podcasts on the topic - as we said, so hot right now) but if you haven't, our gut is also known as our second brain. The communication system between our gut brain and our main brain is so incredibly sophisticated and fast that the gut brain can express and make its desires felt by the main brain - we can literally 'trust our gut'. OK so its not yet doing our taxes but it is telling our main brain a lot of interesting things. And I personally think we should be listening. 

In Bec speak (let's not get too technical) in the gut there are literally trillions of bugs (ewww) - good, bad and very bad bugs (ewww, ewww, ewww). As I understand it, the key is to keep the good bugs happy and outnumbering the bad and very bad bugs because if we have an imbalance then this can cause problems for our overall wellbeing. However, the tough things is that no one actually knows what this exact balance should be and it is likely different for every person. What we do know is that we need to keep the good bugs happy and well fed.

To have a healthy gut we need to look after it and make sure we have a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria. This is where probiotics come in.  

So - what are probiotics?

If you think about your gut like a garden (I am personally a fan of this analogy even though I have a horrible habit of killing off all the plants in my garden) then probiotics are the seeds. Probiotics provide beneficial bacteria that colonize the GI tract with optimal amounts and types of bacteria.  Your garden needs to be tended, which is why it is important to include probiotics either through what you eat or in supplement form.  

So how do we know what to eat? I don't want to overload you with information so in brief our genetics have not evolved very far since we lived in caves and foraged and hunted for our food. So our gut still behaves like it did eons ago but we now feed it modern processed food full of additives, colouring and sugar, we travel, we exercise differently and do all sorts of other things that weren't around eons ago. This all impacts on the balance of good bacteria in our gut, which will ultimately impact on our health. Uh oh. 

We know that foods such as legumes, beans, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, yogurt and whole foods are all loaded with good bacteria. My problem is:

a). finding the time to properly research which foods I should be eating; and

b). finding the time and energy to then somehow work them into my diet - particularly while I am balancing kids who are extremely fussy, a job, the washing, the folding, the homework, a social life etc.

And in my experience, kimchi does not go well with red wine.

So what to do??? 

To deal with my problem of time (or lack thereof), I take a powder supplement. It is super easy because I can have it on cereal, in a smoothie, in a glass of water or (my favourite way) directly from the spoon. At the beginning of my probiotic journey, I had the fortune to meet the founder of PONO Probiotics www.ponoprobiotics.com. And I love her because she is a kick ass woman doing kick ass things EVERY SINGLE DAY and her probiotic powders have billions of CFUs (formal speak for good bacteria). 

We spoke to Daina, the founder of probiotics about why she founded this business and what makes PONO probiotics so damn good. P.s - how cute is this photo!!

"PONO Probiotics came to life not long after we relocated our family from South Australia to Queensland, and in the process, introduced the kids to a new childcare, new climate and new illnesses. 

After a few months of settling in, and the kids catching everything, Sands ended up in intensive care with a respiratory infection. After a 24 hour stay in hospital, I began to look at the possibility that there may be a further underlying issue with his immune system. A very caring doctor explained the impact that antibiotics could have on gut flora and inspired me to begin a journey of research and learning into the importance of gut health for the entire family. This is what lead me to the creation of PONO Probiotics.  

I noticed a gap in the market for fun family friendly probiotics that taste delicious and are in a format that can enable them to be incorporated into your daily routine, for example being added to your smoothies, cereal, yoghurt, chia puddings, bliss balls, or even taken straight off the spoon. We wanted to produce industry leading products in an approachable, tasty, family friendly format.  My husband and I were married in Hawaii, and so when we discovered the ancient Hawaiian word PONO, that means rightness, correctness, alignment, goodness, excellence and well-being, our choice was made. These are things that we hope for in life for ourselves, our families and also our health!"

If you want to get all serious about your gut health like me, you can find this amazing tasting and gut saving PONO powder at www.ponoprobiotics.com. 

All material in the World of Robe is provided for educational purposes only. Please do not substitute or mistake this material or any of our statements for medical advice, treatment, diagnoses, cure or prevention.  Always seek the advice of your doctor or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programs.