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Probiotics and Gut Health: What They Are, How They Work, and Why Your Gut Matters · Stacked Intent: Your Guide to Authentic, Intentional Living

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Hello all and welcome to the Stacked and Tim Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: I am Becca Stackhouse Morrison and I look forward to having you join us as we go along with relationships, finance, and nutrition.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna look at the DNA of how you can take those life and dreams that may be stuck scattered and help give you some resources for mapping out a plan.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: My background is social sciences and I have a certification for family life education.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I look forward to sharing those with you throughout the podcast.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna have lots of fun.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: As you tune in each week to become authentically you, you're going to look at the ways that you can be your authentic self and be intentional with yourself.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you're gonna finish each episode being motivated to live your life more authentically.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: But in these specific episodes, we are gonna have a special co-host, and we're going to let her introduce herself.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, my name is Ashley Guerin, and I'm a University of Georgia Family Consumer Scientist Extension agent for both Kamler and Evans counties in the southeastern part of the state of Georgia.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to be here today, and I have a background in nutrition from an education standpoint, and then also from a community standpoint.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something I'm super passionate about, and I'm excited to work with Becca to talk more about being intentional in the food that you choose and the things that you put into your body.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to our next episode of Stacked Intent, where we are gonna discuss and drop some of our tips on how you can intentionally stack your life.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: I am Becca, and today we're gonna be talking about probiotics with our co-host Ashley.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, Ashley, what is our objectives for today?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Woo! Yeah, probiotics is a fun topic.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: So today our objective is just to discuss the benefits of probiotics and the role that they play in your overall gut health.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna focus specifically on your probiotics and what your gut health looks like.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: So tell us a little bit more about probiotics.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so probiotics, they're just living microorganisms that are intended to have health benefits when they're consumed or applied to your body.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you may have thought about probiotics just specifically as a supplement form, but you can actually get them naturally in lots of the foods that you already enjoy.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: But when you think about the term microorganisms, that can sound a little bit scary and a little sciencey, and your mind may immediately go to germs and getting sick when you think of microorganisms and these like creepy, crawly things that we can't see.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, however, there are lots of microorganisms that are good for your body.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So they're not all just germs and bad things, but these microorganisms that are good for your body can help you digest your food, destroy disease-causing cells, and they can even help produce vitamins.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So they are good ones.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And our bodies naturally have these microorganisms, especially in your lower gastrointestinal tract, which is the part that we typically refer to as the gut.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: So in your gut, there are these natural microorganisms where there's a complex and diverse community of bacteria.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, these probiotics help your body to maintain a healthy community of microorganisms, which in turn can produce substances that have desirable effects and influence your body's immune response, which sounds awesome, right?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: I thought so.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds fun.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sounds pretty good.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, if you think of like there's this community of bacteria hanging out down there in your gut, um, and they're having a party and they're doing all the good things like helping digest your food, keeping your immune system good and healthy, helping with your inflammatory responses.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: So we want to keep those good bacteria happy.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: So your probiotic supplements can make can contain a variety of different microorganisms, but the most common ones are bacteria that belong to the groups of lactobacillus and bifidio bacterium.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: So big terms.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of supplements do we get?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Are they specific probiotics or are they how how do those supplements exist for probiotics?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you can have probiotics and prebiotics, um, but those are not the same thing.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Your probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms that are intended to maintain or improve the good bacteria, which is like the nicro the normal microflora in your body.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they're also in fermented foods, so not just in a pill form, but you can find them in foods like yogurt and sauerkraut.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Your probiotics, yeah.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think of?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so the probiotics, so they're gonna be in our foods that are cold.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of times foods have to be refrigerated.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that and then because heat can kill certain types of bacteria.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we know this from your and my shared food safety background, um, but there are certain bacteria that can live and survive in refrigerated temperatures.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: So if you ever look at a container of like Greek yogurt and it says contains live cultures or contains probiotics, you have to keep those things refrigerated in order for those good bacteria to live.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if it says like contain thousands or millions of probiotics, and you look in there and you say, Well, I don't want to see any probiotics, it's because again, they're microorganisms.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you could only see them underneath a microscope.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not just gonna look at your container of Tibani and see all of this community of good bacteria swimming around in there, but you just know that they're there because it's a fermented food.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So Greek yogurt and then also sauerkraut is a good source of natural probiotics.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: So if we let those heat up to room temperature and then try to eat them, we're gonna be missing out on our probiotics, plus probably occurring some food safety problems.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So rather than having those good bacteria, you might um subject yourself to some of those bad bacteria.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely keep those things refrigerated and follow good food safety principles.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: But prebiotics, those are kind of a different category.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you've got probiotics and then you've got prebiotics.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And those are found in foods that act as food for human microflora and are typically higher fiber foods.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So these are going to be like your whole grain products, bananas, um, like leafy greens, onions, garlic, soybeans, artichokes.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So fruits and vegetables, grain products that have that are higher in fiber.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So these foods act as food for basically your mycloflora, those bacteria, those probiotics.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So prebiotics are the food for the probiotics.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's why it's important for us to have both.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right, exactly.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do take a supplement form, like as in a pill form, make sure that you know is this a prebiotic, is this a probiotic, is it a combination of both?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you you read the label and really know what it is that you are consuming in order to get the best benefit.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: So on our high fiber foods, how do we figure out what are high fiber?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like I know you just gave us a list of more, but is there more?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And just Yeah, well, specifically when you talk about like whole grain products, you can get whole grain bread, which is a pretty common um when you think about grains.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Bread may be the first thing that your mind goes to.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um just because bread is brown or you have wheat bread doesn't necessarily mean it's a whole grain bread.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: So when you are looking for whole grain breads, check out the nutrition facts label and then also check out the ingredients.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And the first ingredient should say whole grain wheat.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um other sources of whole grains would be like whole grain crackers.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can get popcorn is a natural whole grain too.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: You've got some things like rice, oatmeal, quinoa.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of different ways that you can get whole grains other than just through bread.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: But your fruits and vegetables that are higher in fiber are typically the ones that have like the skin on them, like an edible skin.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So think about like an apple, the skin has all of the fiber in it.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you wash your apple first, of course.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: But if you eat the skin on the apple rather than peeling it, you're gonna get those fiber benefits versus if you if you didn't have it.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: So fiber helps in so many different ways.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, we've talked about how it's kind of feeding our probiotic communities over there, but then it also helps with your satiety um feeling.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So feeling full, that satiating experience.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not hungry immediately after you eat something.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you eat something that is higher fiber, it's gonna keep you fuller for longer and then also helps to promote good digestive health.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of times you just hit it, it's it's not it's the less processed.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: So the less processed that your weed is, the better you're gonna get that whole grain from.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, feeling feeling full.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: If you eat a banana versus eating a bag of chips, you're gonna feel full for longer.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then on the breads, the other thing that I've learned, and one of the things when you're looking at your nutrition labels is make sure it's not full of sugar.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes your whole grain breads can have way more sugar than just a white bread.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if we if you look at the ingredients list too on some of your wheat or your whole grain breads, and it may have things like brown sugar or molasses added to it to give you that really rich, deep brown coloring that you would expect from like a wheat bread.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: However, molasses and brown sugar is just sugar.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not necessarily getting the best bang for your buck if you are you're getting whole grain.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: However, you're you're kind of negating the benefits of that by adding a lot of extra sugar that you don't actually need.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's for sure.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: It was like the other day, which I know this isn't totally the same, but I made a tomato sauce from tomatoes that we grew last year in the garden, and they're not as deep of a red, but it's also because they had no chemicals or no alteration.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: And Seth was like, Well, it really wasn't that red.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Well, it's just because of the tomatoes, like because of the difference of those really were just pollinated and put in the ground or having chemicals or being ripened by a ripening process, and then they were frozen right when I picked them.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, like that there's a difference sometimes of what the natural actually looks like versus what we artificially change a little bit.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, another thing to mention too about we talked about whole grains, um, talked a little bit about your your fruits and vegetables that are higher fiber options.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but again, like fiber has has so many different benefits.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: When we think about like probiotics and prebiotics, for the most part, we're consuming those or we're we're wanting to get extra of those to support our good gut health, um, which goes in line with fiber we just talked about is good for your digestive health.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it makes sense that those two things are are correlated, um, that your fiber products are correlated with prebiotics, which feed you probiotics.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So, our um research on the effectiveness of probiotics, what's it look like?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, if you Google or or watch on social media or TikTok or whatever else, prebiotics, probiotics, there's a there's a whole community of people that are very passionate about the use of probiotics and prebiotics.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And not to say that they're they're completely wrong, um, but they're it's really important to make sure that you are looking at research-based evidence and incredible sources when you're looking at these kind of things.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So the research on the effectiveness of your probiotic products, as in the dietary supplement form, is still ongoing.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: So with any type of pill that you take and expect miracles to work, a lot of research has to be done in a lot of different people over a long period of time.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so they are still working on research to truly prove the effectiveness of these probiotics.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: There is some evidence to support that they may be helpful for things like acute diarrhea, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and atopic eczema, which when you think about like diarrhea, hopefully you're not thinking about those things a lot, but it does have to do with your gut health, right?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So those things um are correlated with the your immune response within your gut.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: So you would think that taking a probiotic ideally would would help those things.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: However, there's still not enough strong evidence to support you know that probiotics are a miracle cure for everything else.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we're looking for research to come out with for more probiotics for most conditions, and data is still needed to assess the long-term safety for use of probiotics.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: So again, like this is still a fairly new topic or trend.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so more research is needed just because we haven't had enough time to see how these things really affect our body over long periods of use.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to know that probiotic products may contain different types of bacteria and can have different effects and may vary from person to person.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I may have a different response to a certain type of bacterial strain than you do.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it only makes sense that you want to see some longevity in these studies that you're looking at.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so definitely pay attention to number one, who's funding these studies.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: If it is a company that is trying to push their product, um, of course, they're going to be a little more biased.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: So look at where you're, if you're Googling in the first or second source that you find, if it's if it's a brand and they have they're citing all these sources or whatever, make sure that those sources are non-biased and that they are research-based and they come from credible sources as well.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Which is why it's important to kind of learn what your body needs.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like what I need versus what Ashley needs versus what whoever in your household needs is different.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so one thing that I have learned over the years is that you have to just find what the balance is for your gut and understand that your gut does affect so much more in your life than just I just gotta eat, but it really does affect your brain, you're tired, you're fatigued, like it kind of affects all around how you're gonna function.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Are you familiar with the term microbiome?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: So there again, it's Google, if you go back to Google and you look at what is the microbiome, um, you'll see a ton of stuff that comes up about the gut microbiome.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And there are a lot of natural products that that are coming out to support the gut microbiome.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: So just like you were saying, that so much starts in our gut.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: So when they say like trust your gut, truthfully, when we're talking about like the the microflora and those bacteria, those communities within your gut, I mean, it really does make a difference on your immunity, how well you how well that you are.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and all of that starts down in your digestive tract.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: So what we put into our body really does make a difference.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important that you are working on that balance.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, Becca, it's it's gonna be different from person to person.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I may recommend to you, hey, I've been using this probiotic, it's worked well for me, and then you try it, and it may not work at all for you, and you may have a bad reaction to it, or it may just not do anything for you.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or it may take time for you to see those real results.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not gonna happen overnight.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's just gonna take working with a healthcare provider to figure out maybe what the best option for you would be.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that's talking to health care provider, doing your research, figuring out sometimes it's a trial and error.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it may be keeping a journal of how a food affects you, how it affects you during what activities you're doing, what's happening in your month, what's what's sometimes it's a 30-day, two-month cycle that you kind of need to journal out to see how it affects you.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I remember when I was working with a personal trainer a while back, and he we had some, had to work through some some meal planning struggles for me, and then I had to keep a journal on each day.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is this was what my my dietary intake looked like.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: These are the things that I ate.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had to to journal and write out, like, how did I feel that day?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, that was kind of weird, but it really helped me to track, all right, if I'm eating number one, this much food, if I'm eating these products, or if I'm eating, you know, these ingredients, or if I'm putting together this combination of food, how did that make me feel?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Did I feel more energized?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Did I feel like, you know, that my stomach just didn't feel well at all?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: If those things were, I had to rate on a scale from zero to five, with zero being like absolute worst, five being I'm feeling great, had to rate on a scale each day, how did I feel after consuming these foods?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it really does help to track like, all right, I know if I ate something that had a whole lot of sugar in it, and I probably felt more towards a two or a one that day, I know that I can go back and pinpoint this was what was different in my diet that day, and this is how it made me feel.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, not to say that those things are always bad, but I don't really want to feel that way every single day.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's all about finding what works for you.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And also if you have underlying conditions for your like underlying health conditions, so I know with you and your health conditions, if you're considering a probiotic or a supplement, that might be something that you would have to talk with your doctor about to find out how it was going to affect you.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I've had to talk to them or just kind of figure out the balance of the, and then one of the biggest things is going back and you have to, you can't have a conversation with a healthcare provider if you don't know what's going on.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of times before you even go to the healthcare provider, if you can, going back to keeping that journal helps.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you can walk in and go, here's what I've done for the last 30 days, here's how I've felt, they're gonna be a whole lot better set to help you than you going, I don't know why I don't feel that way.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I know for me that's been it is anytime I've had to go into the doctor and we need to make changes for my crones, it's always been I take a journal, take a here's what I've done for two weeks of noticing patterns.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that definitely helps.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you mentioned it earlier too about probiotics are typically found in like refrigerated foods.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I would I would also highly encourage you to pay attention to what types of probiotics that you're purchasing.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes they are required to be held under refrigeration.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're purchasing a probiotic, especially from your healthcare provider, or if you find like a health and wellness store that's selling them, it may say like must keep refrigerated.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: And again, because you got to think about these these bacteria that are in these probiotics, they're alive and they're living, and some of them may be heat sensitive.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: So to truly get the best benefit, you have to follow the instructions on the supplement that you are using.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's so it's and it's making sure and understanding what you're doing.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it's you have to be an active participant in order to kind of really figure out how the your help and your diet can work together in these pre- and probiotics.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, what would you say that our challenge for the listeners today would be?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, I would challenge you to do a little bit of research to find out if there's a prebiotic or a probiotic supplement that would work well for you.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to your healthcare provider, come with a couple of different options and have their opinion or get their opinion on it, or just ask them what their recommendation might be.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you feel if they feel like you would benefit from a probiotic, ask them for a suggestion for which one or a type of product that you may try if you're looking for a supplement version.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we talked about some natural, some natural sources of probiotics, so make sure that you are consuming a wide variety of healthy foods, those whole grain products, fruits, vegetables, to get the natural sources.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: But if you need a little extra help and you're looking into a supplement, talk to your healthcare provider.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: That brings us to the end of this episode of Stacked Intent.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: If you loved this episode as much as I did, head on over and rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: New episodes are gonna be dropped on Thursdays.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: Until then, this is Becca, and don't forget, enrich your life by being intentional.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: This podcast was created, produced, and recorded, and edited by Stacked Intent.