Probiotic Foods

If you can’t afford probiotics on a regular basis, or you would like to supplement your existing course of probiotics, there are several excellent probiotic foods that can help repopulate your intestine. These can be taken at the same time as probiotic supplements and are a great addition to any diet.

Yogurt

Most yogurts have probiotic qualities, but some are better than others. Yogurts that are promoted as specifically 'probiotic' are generally best. Check that they contain some of the bacteria listed on our Choosing a Probiotic’ page. Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacteria Bifidum are particularly helpful. Avoid yogurts that claim to be probiotic but don’t list the specific strains of bacteria on the packaging.

Remember that excess sugar can feed or restart a Candida overgrowth. Make sure to buy yogurt with a lower sugar content, and certainly no added sugar. Plain yogurt is almost always the best - it tastes a little boring at first but after a while you will start to enjoy the flavor and find other yogurts too sugary. And of course, always buy Organic if you can.

Even better, forget the confusing labels on supermarket brands and make your own probiotic yogurt. This is as easy as buying a yogurt culture and some milk, then putting in a little effort to set things up. The bacteria actually do all the hard work for you.

Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk drink that you may find in your local supermarket. It is simply milk fermented with kefir grains, and is full of nutritious probiotics.

You can make your own kefir very easily. Just find some kefir grains (you can buy packs online or get some from a friend) and place them in a jar of milk. Within a couple of days you will have some delicious kefir!

The best thing is that you can keep using those same kefir grains almost indefinitely, so this is a very economical way to produce your probiotics.

You can read more about kefir on our How To Make Your Own Kefir page.

Fermented Foods

Sauerkraut and kimchi are the most commonly used fermented foods. Both are types of fermented cabbage. The cabbage actually comes ‘pre-loaded’ with the bacteria need to ferment itself.

When you buy either sauerkraut or kimchi in the supermarket, make sure that you buy the ‘raw’ or ‘unpasteurized’ form. Modern packaging methods mean that much of the sauerkraut you see on the shelves has actually been stripped of all its probiotic goodness. The food is pasteurized before being canned or jarred, destroying all the billions of beneficial bacteria that it contains. If you can’t find a raw sauerkraut at your store, try local markets or health food stores instead, and look for locally produced fermented foods.

You can also easily make your own sauerkraut. Cut the cabbage into thin strips, toss it with a little sea salt, then pack it down tightly into a bowl. Cover with a wooden lid, then let the fermentation process do all the hard work for you! After a couple of weeks, it should be ready. And of course your homemade sauerkraut is guaranteed to be full of healthy bacteria, unlike most of the stuff you can buy in the shops.

In addition, both sauerkraut and kimchi are high in Vitamins C and B12, which can help build up your immune system and fight off your Candida overgrowth. Sauerkraut was even used on long sea voyages where Vitamin C deficiency was traditionally a problem - it keeps longer than other vegetables and provided a healthy source of nutrients even after many months at sea.

Prebiotics

Although prebiotic foods don’t contain any bacteria, what they do contain is the food that your healthy bacteria need to survive and grow. So adding some prebiotic foods to your diet will certainly not hurt, and it may just help rebalance your gut bacteria a little quicker. Chicory root is a great example. Chicory coffee is caffeine free, has a similarly bitter taste to normal coffee, and contains an excellent prebiotic name Inulin that will help the colonies of beneficial bacteria flourish in your gut. Inulin is also added to many probiotic supplements.

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