6 homemade recipes with natural probiotics

All fresh and natural foods offer their nutrients and vital energy, but only a few provide a benefit beyond their nutritional qualities: among them are probiotic foods, rich in microorganisms that contribute to improving and increasing the flora healthy intestine and, therefore, enhance the body’s defensive capacity.

The digestive system is a microcosm where thousands of beneficial organisms coexist with others that are not. Health partly depends on the balance in favor of the former. Probiotics, usually lactobacilli and bifidobacteriayes, they join the ranks of the “good guys” and hinder the presence of pathogenic microorganisms.

But they do not act alone. There are foods that promote their development. It’s about “prebiotics”whose effect resides in some of its indigestible compounds: short-chain carbohydrates such as oligosaccharides and inulin.

These activate the growth of beneficial endogenous bacterias, lower cholesterol and triglycerides, improve the assimilation of some nutrients, improve colitis and help prevent colon cancer.

This simplification reflects the need to consume foods of one type and another that favor the richness and quality of the intestinal flora.

And it is that a diet low in this type of food can affect the balance of the flora and create a breeding ground for infections and digestive disorders. The habitual consumption of very refined foods, stress and the excessive use of antibiotics can also deteriorate it.

More Probiotics Without Supplements: Natural Probiotic Foods

often informs -or misinforms- about the need to include in the diet fortified functional foods with probiotics or prebiotics.

In some cases, when a very damaged or almost non-existent intestinal flora is detected, it is advisable to resort to supplements or to functional foods, for example after a long course of antibiotics.

Now, despite how convenient it is to consume fortified foods, there are others that contain microorganisms or fibers that are naturally beneficial to the flora. In a healthy person, a natural diet rich in these foods should suffice.

Foods that contain probiotics

Probiotics are mainly present in fermented foods such as unpasteurized yogurts, kefir, sauerkraut, bread made with mother yeast and soy derivatives such as miso or the unpasteurized soy sauce itself.

The umeboshi plumsa very popular Chinese deli in Japan that can be found in health and health food stores, are also a good probiotic.

These foods are naturally rich in beneficial microorganisms for the balance of the intestinal flora.

In it yoghurtperhaps the easiest to incorporate daily into the diet, fermentation makes lactose digestible and makes the calcium in milk more assimilable, in addition to activating the metabolism of other minerals, amino acids and vitamins.

kefirwhich can be prepared with milk, tea or water, provides a richer and more complex microbiological flora. It is usually made at home with nodules made up of bacilli and yeast, although it can also be bought ready-made.

Miso and tempe, both derived from soybeans, are two great probiotics. Miso is a tasty condiment made by fermenting soybeans alone or with barley or rice. Tempe, a whitish, grainy cake rich in protein and enzymes, is made from boiled soybeans inoculated with a fungus.

The prebiotic substances that nourish all these microorganisms in the intestine are found above all in plant foods.s and the richest in fiber. Wheat and its derivatives, garlic, asparagus, onions, leeks, beets and artichokes are an example.

Ferment vegetables naturally with salt and water in the absence of air It is another way to obtain probiotic microorganisms.

To prepare them at home:

Wash the chosen vegetables (cabbage, carrots, onion, leeks, turnips or beets), chop them up and put them in a very clean glass jar. They are squeezed with a wooden mallet and, when the jar is half full, add a teaspoon of coarse salt.Continue filling in the same way, add another dose of salt and fill the holes with mineral water.Seal hermetically and store in a dark and warm place, on a plate in case it leaks, for 15 days. Once the jar is opened, it can be kept in the fridge for a maximum of 15 more days.

Cooking with probiotics: what is there to know?

The main rule for the use of probiotics in the kitchen is to moderate the cooking time and temperature, and promote their daily and raw consumption. Discover how to use each of these foods in the kitchen.

Yoghurt. It should be consumed as fresh as possible. It is an excellent dessert, the base for many smoothies, a softener for creams and gazpachos, and an exquisite sauce base. kefir. With an acid and somewhat gaseous flavor, it is ideal as a drink, in a smoothie with fruit or nuts, as a salad sauce or as part of a cold soup.fermented vegetables. They are used in salads and sauces, and with legumes or cereals. The sauerkraut stands out, a typical fermented cabbage from Alsace. It is excellent accompanied by kefir or yogurt; in salad with pineapple, raisins, apple and carrot; or as an accompaniment to vegetables, potatoes or meat.Mother yeast. A quality bread, made with whole wheat flour and fermented with mother yeast, is a good option to balance the bacterial flora.miso. It is used to flavor broths, soups, stews or pâtés. It is heated only slightly, because if it boils it loses its properties. It is rich in salt: a teaspoon per person is enough.Tempe. This protein-rich soy derivative is not eaten raw: it is fried, roasted, grilled or stewed. Germinated. When germinating grains and seeds intensify their enzymatic activity and have a certain probiotic effect. They should be eaten fresh and raw, in salads, fillings, pâtés and sauces.Soy sauce. As long as it is of quality, made by slow fermentation and unpasteurized, it is a good complement and dressing. It must be used at the end of cooking and in moderation, as it is salty.umeboshi plums. They are sold in paste or whole and its flavor is strong, between acid and salty. To prepare digestion it is advisable to undo a small piece in the mouth before eating. They are also used to accompany cereals and vegetables, and as a dressing l with oil or soy sauce.

6 recipes to fill your body with probiotics