Probiotic Foods: Naturally Regulating Your Bacteria Balance
 Maintaining a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract can do wonders to keep digestion running smoothly. While many people may choose to take probiotic supplements to alter the level of "good" bacteria in their bodies, there are also many probiotic foods available to help you regulate your internal balance through diet.
Most probiotic foods have undergone a fermentation process. This allows for bacteria to build up which in turns yields very specific flavors to the foods. Common probiotic foods include:
- Yogurt
- Sauerkraut
- Kim chi
- Kefir
- Buttermilk
- Miso
- Tempeh
- Brewer's yeast
If you include some of these easily digested foods as part of your normal diet, you should be able to keep your internal bacteria balance relatively normal. However, in some cases such as after surgery, when you have an infection, or when you are on antibiotics, you may want to increase the amounts of these probiotic foods that you eat or consider taking a probiotic supplement since these factors can affect your bacteria levels.
If you have questions or concerns about how to include probiotics as part of your health plan, your primary care provider should be able to help you make educated decisions about when and how to alter your body's bacteria levels and may be able to recommend other probiotic foods you can include in your diet plan.
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