Eating sauerkraut, kombucha, or kefir doesn’t implant bacteria in your gut. What these foods do is generally improve the environment of the intestine. Lactobacillus are quite predominant in sauerkraut. The lactic acid in sauerkraut is food for beneficial bacteria. The pH of sauerkraut is compatible with beneficial bacteria. The bitterness of sauerkraut stimulates digestion.
It also inhibits harmful microbial growth. Do you still need a probiotic supplement if you’re eating sauerkraut daily? You don’t necessarily need them, but I believe it’s beneficial to take probiotics along with the sauerkraut. If you are going to take a probiotic, choose one that contains strains of lactobacillus not already found in the sauerkraut. I also recommend adding digestive enzymes with the probiotic or sauerkraut, as the enzymes make digestion more efficient. More efficient digestion means that more fuel is available for the beneficial bacteria farther down the GI tract.
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I was one of the first people to develop a formula with multiple types of probiotics and digestive enzymes together in a capsule. The capsule is bile and acid resistant to it can get to the small intestine where it releases the enzymes and probiotics. If you are also eating sauerkraut, the probiotics and enzymes ensure efficient digestion. The result is a lot less bloating and gas.
Remember to introduce sauerkraut into your diet gradually. Don’t just sit down with a huge big bowl full of sauerkraut on day one and start eating it as if you’ve always eaten it. Your tummy will get very messed up if you start with big servings right off the bat. That is also true for other fermented and cultured foods. Kefir is the most suspect of all the ferments to introduce.
I recommend being very cautious with that one. I consider kefir to be the most advanced kind of cultured fermented food to enter the diet. Yogurt’s one of the safest ones. Kombucha’s on the suspect list. My order would be yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir in terms of effects on the gut. To avoid getting side effects, I recommend you introduce fermented foods into your diet in that order.
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