Emily: 0:00

Hey. Nice.

Vanessa: 0:00

Hey. Um,

Emily: 0:01

So today we're going to talk all about probiotics. Do you take a probiotic supplement?

Vanessa: 0:08

so I have in the past, I'm not actually taking a probate this time though.

Emily: 0:12

Oh, interesting.

Vanessa: 0:13

Are you.

Emily: 0:14

while I was taking one for like, women's health a while ago, actually at your recommendation, I think.

Vanessa: 0:21

You're welcome.

Emily: 0:22

but I have it now, but I might want to start because ever since I've been back from Hawaii and my stomach is like pretty wrecked.

Vanessa: 0:28

Yeah, that's it. It's an interesting thing.

Emily: 0:31

I was a little more preemptive and like thought to take them while I was on my trip, consuming all the booze and the caffeine and the fried coconut toe food type of situation, but better, late than never.

Vanessa: 0:44

I have also been having some issues. I think I got a little bit of food poisoning and so I don't think probiotics would have helped me very much with that, but. Somehow Craig always escapes this. Like I will be, well, I knew gets food poisoning when somehow we eat the same things and I ended up like sick for three days and he's like over there sometimes Emily knows about this sympathy sick for me. Or sometimes just like looking at me sadly and being like, is there anything I can do to help?

Emily: 1:21

Okay. Well, I'll never forget in college when you guys went out and got Chinese food and like, we love this Chinese place. I don't remember the name of it, but, and so you guys came home, you didn't feel that, well, Craig starts throwing up, you're throwing up. I'm like Jesus, like my bedrooms, like, you know, right by our shared bathroom. So we're like really all going through it together. And then. You know, Craig feels fine really the next day. And then as the day's gone, you just got like worse and worse, and then it ended up that you had Ecolab from Apple cider, but why was he sick that night? I'll always wonder that

Vanessa: 1:57

Truly sympathy sickness. I think so. I mean, I was so sick and Emily can vouch. So I was like puking my brains out, like on the bathroom floor all night long for days. Like I was like a week like that. And, um, Craig just kept saying, I just don't feel quite right. Yeah.

Emily: 2:22

Oh, my God, it was like the absolute worst. And then you, and he was like trying to compare with what was happening with you. And then eventually we're like, dude, she had equal eye. Like you got out of an exam because of it. it was a real serious problem. And it was from what was it? Uncle John's cider mill.

Vanessa: 2:41

John cider mill and Lansing, Michigan. Well, it's not Lansing, but it's somewhere around there and yes, I got equal eye from there. So this is not a good plug for them.

Emily: 2:53

Oh, like not to shit talk John's cider Apple. I mean, Apple cider is unpasteurized. This. I was thinking about the state. I'm thinking, okay, we need to do a food safety episode because I just feel like there's a lot of nuance things that people might not know. So if you want us to do a food safety episode, make sure you let us know, because I really want to do it.

Vanessa: 3:13

Yeah. You

Emily: 3:14

We'll talk more about Ecolab.

Vanessa: 3:15

yeah. Emily texted me that today and I was like, like, is that something beautiful?

Emily: 3:23

I think people do. Oh, how many times? Okay. I'll just drop this little teaser here. Expiration dates have nothing to do with food safety.

Vanessa: 3:33

Oh, she said it in kind of a sexy whispery voice.

Emily: 3:39

Now everyone's dying to hear us talk about it.

Vanessa: 3:41

Yeah. Well, let us know, because this is up for debate.

Emily: 3:47

Okay. Let's get after it.

Vanessa: 3:56

Welcome to wellness mist. So today we are talking about probiotics and kind of gut health in general, I guess, but really focusing on probiotics because it's something that's super hot. And there is a ton of supplements on the market and I feel like they've started just throwing probiotic on literally everything like hand soaps, clean.

Emily: 4:25

To today I saw like a random, juice and they were like, Oh yeah, we put probiotics in here as well. I don't know if they're like breaking a capsule open into it or what the deal is, but yeah, it's kind of everywhere and it's been really trendy for a while at this point.

Vanessa: 4:42

So before we dive any more further into probiotics, I really want to talk about prebiotics first, because if anyone is talking to you about probiotics before talking about prebiotics, they're doing you a huge disservice, prebiotics are a huge, huge piece of the puzzle and mostly. People aren't talking about them. I'm not sure what's going on with that. Hopefully people catch up pretty soon, but prebiotics are huge. So, what are they? So prebiotics are essentially the food for the probiotics or good bacteria in your gut. So prebiotics are foods that are resistant to digestion. So initially you might be thinking like, I don't want to eat anything. That's resisting digestion, but this is actually really good. Since they're able to resist digestion, they can make it all the way to your colon intact. Okay. That way the good bacteria or probiotics can feed on them and grow. So again, it's the food for your good bacteria. So prebiotics, you don't need a fancy supplement or anything like that. We have lots of prebiotic food sources and some of those include drusen artichokes, leeks, garlic onions, asparagus shallots. Those are kind of like our classic prebiotics. I think if you're a registered dietician, you can probably lift it, list those off in your sleep. Emily, do you remember having to remember those for a few exams

Emily: 6:16

Yes. It was like, if you're ever in doubt the answers, leeks and onions.

Vanessa: 6:20

truly though? Truly. And since those

Emily: 6:25

Unless it's what to like, not eat with a colostomy bag, then it's like that, which I don't even know if we should leave that in there, but that's just, I had to say that

Vanessa: 6:33

this is the second week in a row that we've talked about class to me. I mentioned it in the chlorophyll episode, too.

Emily: 6:42

It doesn't really surprise me.

Vanessa: 6:43

Shout out to everybody with the class to me bag anyway. So those are our classic foods. There's also some other foods like oatmeal seaweed, white potatoes, also great sources of prebiotics. I am so excited that seaweed is a good source of prebiotic because I was just telling Emily this today, I've been obsessed with seaweed lately. Like I am chomping on it like a crazy person. And Craig is looking at me like, why do you like this so much?

Emily: 7:15

How do you even chomp on seaweed?

Vanessa: 7:19

Yeah, I guess it's less of a chomp because it kind of just like dissolves in your mouthish you know, it's

Emily: 7:24

Yeah. Right.

Vanessa: 7:27

just so good. It's like something. Yeah, it's really great. So I'm really loving that and shout out to white potatoes. I've always been team white potato, like sweet potatoes are out here trying to be like, look at me. I'm better. I'm great. And guess what? They're not, they're not, they might have a little bit more vitamin a, but they're not better than the white potato.

Emily: 7:52

Yeah, that's some serious diet culture talking the demonizing of white foods

Vanessa: 7:58

Gotcha. That annoys me so much. I love you. Why potatoes? And really fun fact, actually about white potatoes too. So they create their risk resistant starch from heating them and cooling them. So that process of heating and cooling creates a resistance starch. Fun fact, not that anyone's going to eat, cool potato anyway. I don't think,

Emily: 8:22

You might potato salad.

Vanessa: 8:24

yeah, but you're cooking it first and letting it cool down.

Emily: 8:28

All right.

Vanessa: 8:29

So I guess I'm saying you're not going to eat it uncooked,

Emily: 8:32

Oh, uh, okay. Okay. Okay.

Vanessa: 8:37

Yeah. And of course there are prebiotic supplements as well, but. Again, I would start with food first. And if you are interested in prebiotics, make sure to work with a health practitioner. Some supplements could be things like wheat, dextrin, chicory root, and beta glucans, and those things are going to be in food. But if for some reason you needed a little bit of extra help, you can supplement those kinds of things.

Emily: 9:04

So Vanessa has told us all about prebiotics, which you now know are the food for probiotics. So probiotics can't exist in the body without these prebiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms that are intended to have health benefits when consumed or applied to the body. They are a part of the gut microbiome, which has garnered a lot of attention lately in the wellness space. And Vanessa is going to talk a little bit about that in a moment. But some sources of probiotics would be fermented foods like kimchi or sauerkraut. I just got a jar of really good fermented leaks last week from my farmer's market. So there's a ton of vegetables available. I've seen like asparagus peppers, all the good fermented veggies, yogurt, cultured foods. It's even like, for example, a vegan cheese has. Certain cultures in it, and that's kind of what they use to get that tininess. And that will have your probiotics in it as well. Also kombucha, which we're going to touch on in a little bit, if you like that fizzy slightly sweet beverage, I feel like kombu, which is kind of polarizing. So someone's going to be like kombucha when they hear this.

Vanessa: 10:21

You think so? I love kombucha. Well, I feel like we both love kombucha, so. But, yeah, I understand if you feel that way, but you know, I guess a chance.

Emily: 10:30

Yeah, give it a chance, give it a chance to do like a lightly fermented one, or try for a little sweeter one in the beginning. I feel like that is a good, like gateway. Matt used to hate kombucha on my husband, but now he loves it.

Vanessa: 10:43

Yeah. I feel like that's kind of everyone's story.

Emily: 10:46

yeah, you like, don't like it at all. We used to mix kombucha and vodka back in the day,

Vanessa: 10:51

Some of

Emily: 10:52

we did a lot of that. Honestly, I can't, it's like too many members. Okay. So Vanessa, tell us about the gut microbiome.

Vanessa: 11:03

Yeah. So I think this is important to touch on and we'll probably do another episode and talk about it even more, but, The microbiome is something that's mentioned all the time. And I think that in the health space, we just assume that everyone knows what that means. And I don't think we should be using these like big jargon-y words and just assuming everyone knows what they mean

Emily: 11:27

It's definitely a buzzword. I feel like, especially among a lot of people who. Are really deep in the diet culture and want to demonize something like, Oh, if you have one tablespoon of canola oil, your guts ruin, or if you have one glass of wine, your alcohol is totally depleted your whole gut health for your whole life. So I think it's, it's definitely going to be necessary to have a whole episode, but please brief us.

Vanessa: 11:52

Yes. So in your gut, and when I say your gut, I mean like your GI tract. In your gut, there's all of these organisms. It's this huge ecosystem of microorganisms that play a role in digestion, metabolism, mood immunity. And these organisms are things like bacteria, protozoa, viruses, parasites, in some cases, even, and it's really, really important. We are supporting and nourishing this ecosystem because when we have dysbiosis. Another trendy word or overgrowth. We can feel the wrath of that sort of disruption and the harmony of our ecosystem in our gut. So typically that's when probiotics come in, we see some kind of issue. We're having gas, bloating, whatever else, kind of indigestion. And we think, okay, I need a probiotic. Having some big issues. And sometimes that can be the answer and sometimes that can be harmful.

Emily: 12:53

And I think also too, especially if you're more of a beginner with probiotics, maybe you aren't super familiar. It can be helpful to think about it. Like antibiotics. We've all been on antibiotics at one time or another, antibiotics kill all the bacteria in the body. And so probiotics are promoting the growth of good bacteria to keep things nice and balanced. If you're a serial antibiotic user, then you really want to listen to this episode because we can give you some tools to help with that good bacteria regrowth in the form of probiotics.

Vanessa: 13:27

And I think it's really important to note here too, is one of the reasons that we aren't necessarily going to say as a blanket take a probiotic is because depending on what's going on in the gut, if you have overgrowth. That could actually cause more issues. if you're going into a system that's already overgrown, you're adding more bacteria to it that might not actually help you. It can really depend. And that's why it's really important to work with a practitioner, and maybe get some testing done because. Of course, we sometimes think we can take supplements kind of Willy nilly. And that's not always great. Now, if you're already taking a probiotic, that's working really well for you and you're not having any issues. I don't think you should stop taking it, but it's important to note here that first of all, if you're just. Maintenance-wise we want you to get your probiotics from food first, and we'll talk more about food in a second. And second of all, just because you can get something over the counter, it doesn't mean it can't do harm. Not saying that probiotics are going to cause like these huge issues, but if you're already having a lot of gut health issues, it's a good idea to talk to someone first.

Emily: 14:43

It's almost like, you know, if you just have kind of a small issue, you feel like you have a stomach bug or it's something that's not like taking over your life, but you feel like, Oh, maybe this can help me and you want to try it out. Cool. I feel like for those people, there's not like a huge amount of risk, but if you're like desperate and things are really going South, then it's probably worth it to do a little bit of testing so that, you know, okay. Really what you need, and it's less of a shot in the dark. And as you mentioned, Vanessa, with supplements, I mean, supplements are not FDA approved substances and there's not a whole lot of regulations on supplements. So it's important to make sure that you're getting a supplement from a reputable brand one that's been regulated by some kind of third-party. To ensure that you're receiving a high quality supplement

Vanessa: 15:33

I'll give you all some tips. If you are dying to take a probiotic or if you're already taking one , kind of some things that you should look for, but let's dive back into the food sources since that's what we want you to focus on in the first place. So you have your prebiotics are your goals. So garlic onions, asparagus, Jerusalem, artichokes, leeks, and shallots. And then of course we also have the smoke and hot white potatoes, oatmeal and seaweed. And then you have your fermented probiotic sources, like Emily mentioned sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, yogurt kombucha. Did you mention me, So we wanted to dive a little bit deeper in the kombucha because kombucha is something that's pretty trendy too. Emily and I love it. I think it's awesome. But I definitely wouldn't suggest that kombucha would be your main source of probiotic.

Emily: 16:33

Especially not if you're planning on mixing it with vodka.

Vanessa: 16:38

Yeah. Yeah. If you're mixing it with vodka.

Emily: 16:41

It's over. It's just the alcohol it's game

Vanessa: 16:43

right. Yeah. But anyway, so. If you don't already know what kombucha is. So it's labeled normally as a really healthy drink, it contains probiotics. It's a fermented drink, so it's using tea, sugar, water, bacteria, and yeast. And there's this little like alien monster looking thing in the bottom. It's called the SCOBY and that eats the sugar and facilitates the fermentation process. Now. Like we mentioned, kombucha can be a great source of probiotics and some people like us love it. But it's important to note too, for some people that can cause like some loading diarrhea and there's actually even a really, really small study that showed it was causing brain fog for some people. So that's just kind of a, kind of an interesting note in all of that.

Emily: 17:34

It's actually seen a lot about how have you really overdo it on kombucha. There can be neurological effects, so just make sure you're not having like seven cups a day.

Vanessa: 17:44

Yeah, it does actually have a really small amount of alcohol in it, but it's produced from the fermentation process.

Emily: 17:51

Yeah, you can get like kombucha beer, which also I wouldn't count that as you were pullback probiotics, but unity vibration. That used to be my jam.

Vanessa: 18:02

Yeah. And, if you are a consumer of alcohol, I would recommend it.

Emily: 18:07

Yeah, it's great.

Vanessa: 18:09

Don't let that scare you away. Like we said, we personally love kombucha if it works for you. That's great. But there is a couple of things that we want you to watch out for, because again, anything trendy like kombucha, there's a ton of different kinds of kombucha on the market. And everyone's like, look at this awesome health. The drink, I'm getting all my probiotics and I'm guzzling 10 down a day. I don't know if people are drinking 10 though would be crazy, but you know, people are potentially having it really frequently. And it's important to note, so. Kombucha needs sugar in it. So the sugar is what the bacteria feeds on. And kombucha has a lot of sugar. Some kombucha has a lot of sugar. This is kind of like a yogurt situation.

Emily: 18:57

I was literally, I was just going to say, like, I can feel myself getting excited because it was just about yogurt, where it feels into a past episode. I was complaining because it really is marketed at this time. Super health food. And it bothers me because sometimes there's more sugar in them than a candy bar and that's fine, but I just wish that that was more, a parents and that it wasn't like this big campaign for yogurt. I mean, the yogurt commercials are like, so everyone's having such a great time, like, like the marketing for yogurt's really great. And they never talk about the fact that, you know, there's. 25 grams of sugar in this little tiny cup. So it's the same thing with kombucha where sometimes you'll look at it and be like, Oh, there's 20 grams of sugar in here. Like, that was just not what I was expecting from this beverage. And if that's how you like to drink it. Cool. Like we said, if you're a beginner with kombucha, pick a sweet one, because that's going to help you develop more of a taste for it. If you're looking to add it into your diet, but just be aware, that's all.

Vanessa: 19:59

And like yogurt, not all kombucha is, are made the same and not all of them are packed with 20 grams of sugar. Just like not all yogurt is packed with 20 grams of sugar. So yeah. That's just where you as a consumer, you just want to make sure you're paying attention. Look at that label. See what you're getting into. Like Emily said, if you are fine with getting into 20 grams of sugar, that's fine. But we just want you to be aware of that and know it. So you're not unknowingly thinking you're drinking this super healthy drink. And actually, you know, taking in quite a bit of sugar,

Emily: 20:31

Or the worst part is you're like muscling it down because you feel like it's so good for you. You're just going to like suffer through it like a green juice or something. And in reality, it's got like, you know, a shit load of sugar and that's the main ingredient. Yeah.

Vanessa: 20:46

Yeah. Yeah. And likewise, like I said before, I mean, sugar kombucha needs sugar too. Happen. Sugar is always going to be an ingredient, but you just want to pay attention to how much, um, something else that can be kind of sneaky in kombucha, which might be fine for some people. But if you don't tolerate it well, is caffeine. So most kombucha is, will contain at least a little bit of caffeine, just cause. They're made from tea. So just a caution if you're sensitive to that. So if you're having a kombucha at night and then can't fall asleep, maybe it's time to adjust that a little bit and, you know, stick it in earlier in your day or something like that.

Emily: 21:28

So as always, we love to leave our listeners with some action items. number one, we're looking at food first, right? Always. So you could start to implement just one probiotic or prebiotic rich food per day. For example, you could have yogurt at breakfast. You could have a couple spoonfuls of fermented veggies at lunch, or like in the middle of the night, like my husband does, he's like writing the fridge for the sauerkraut. Or you can include some onions and garlic with your dinner. So it doesn't have to be this huge overhaul of your diet. Just starting to slowly add in these foods. Maybe just making sure that you have some leaks in your fridge for when you want to just add them to a quick meal, you have them at nice and easy access. We took a poll from our listeners on Instagram and one of the common reasonings, why people don't take a probiotic supplement is because of expense. So we just want to be really clear that you can get your probiotics through foods. You don't need some fancy supplements to be able to access the health benefits of probiotics. As much as some companies might have you believe that. But a lot of us do want to take a supplement and that's also a really good option to receive targeted probiotics as well.

Vanessa: 22:44

Absolutely. So if you are having gut issues like gas, bloating, nausea, whatever it might be, I would suggest before taking a probiotic supplement and getting a test, to see if that's what you actually. Need or if you need some other kind of treatment, but if you are currently taking a probiotic or you're dying to try one right now, I would recommend looking for a pro probiotic that has multiple strains. You want to look for something that has at least, or more than 50 billion CFU, and then whether it is refrigerated or not, I would refrigerate it. So those are kind of my quick tips for. A probiotic supplement. But again, like I said, I would recommend getting a test first, if you are having specific gut health issues. So I, obviously work with balancing hormone. So you might be thinking like, Why are you talking about the guts so much? If you're someone who's worked with me, you know, that I say probably at nauseum, that everything is connected. And so. I actually do a test in my practice called GI map. So it's a stool sample and the results. Give us a really good look at what's going on in the gut, as far as good bacteria, opportunistic bacteria, viruses, parasites, and any other pathogens that might be in there. So a GI map is a really good idea to get a look at what's going on in the gut and, what you might need to specifically supplement. If you do at all.

Emily: 24:18

We always love to test rather than guess at what your issue could be. So if you're having a problem with your gut or digestion, come see Vanessa, she can do your GI map test and gets you feeling a lot better.

Vanessa: 24:33

Absolutely. But for the meantime, make sure you are eating all of those prebiotics and probiotics and remember the, mnemonic device that we taught you, goals,

Emily: 24:47

barlach onion, artichokes, leeks, and shallots reach your goals. Your digestion will. Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of wellness myths. We hope you left with a little bit more knowledge about the benefits of probiotics. Next week, we have a special guest for you who uses a variety of healing modalities in her massage practice. You definitely don't want to miss this one. See you next time.