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The nutrient you must start adding to the menu

We all know that yogurt, fruits, vegetables and legumes are very healthy foods.

Some because of an impressive amount of vitamins and minerals, and others because of a content of good bacteria that help digestion.

Gastro-nutritionist Tamar Pepper-Geek helps us understand how to easily incorporate them into the menu

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• yogurt

• Probiotics

In collaboration with Danone

Sunday, 06 June 2021, 10:29

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Healthy, nutritious and with good bacteria.

Yogurt and fruit (Photo: Gal Ben Zeev Studio)

Anyone who is interested in what he puts in his mouth knows that minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber are important and healthy ingredients for the body but not many know that the presence of good bacteria in food also adds a lot to the variety and quality of your diet.

In fact, until recently the world of science did not attach much importance to the bacteria that live in our bodies and the way they affect us.

It's not that we did not know they existed - for many years we have known that in the body of each of us live many bacteria that occupy about three kilograms of our body weight on average, when only the intestine has between a pound and a half of these mysterious microorganisms.

However, it is only in the last two decades that we have begun to examine in depth how the various bacteria in our body, with an emphasis on gut bacteria, affect us.

A long line of studies on the subject in recent years show that their effect on us is wider than we thought - from mood swings to chronic diseases.

Good and less good bacteria

"Our stomach is a very acidic environment, which helps prevent the penetration of pathogenic bacteria, ie pathogens, into the body," explains nutritionist Tamar Pepper-Geek, who treats people with gastrointestinal disorders. "But this acidity does not prevent the proliferation of many other bacteria in the digestive tract - which can be divided into good and less good."

According to Pepper-Geek, the less good bacteria are not pathogens, but today they know how to show a connection between some of them and various diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, for example. "At the same time, we know to recognize that in the bodies of healthy people - there is a high rate of bacteria that are defined as good," she explains.

To date, studies have found an association between a high rate of good bacteria in the gut and a reduced risk of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and other diseases.

However, Tamar emphasizes that "it's like the egg and the chicken - we don't really know if the bacteria reduce the risk of disease or if healthy people just naturally have more of these bacteria."

Studies have found a link between a high rate of good bacteria in the gut and a reduced risk of chronic diseases (Photo: ShutterStock)

To eat to live.

Better

As mentioned, today the research in the field is quite early, but we do know, according to the knowledge accumulated so far, that a diet rich in prebiotic and probiotic components may have a beneficial effect on the digestive system. And studies aside, there are also quite a few people who will testify that they felt the difference after making such changes in their diet.

Within the body of each of us there are many bacteria in inconceivable proportions, which just like us, need a suitable environment and available energy to thrive. "My dear colleague likes to liken the gut to a garden," says Tamar. "When you give the right fertilizer, water and cultivate it - the flowers we want grow. Prebiotics are basically the way to cultivate gut bacteria, just like the flowers in the garden. These are components that do not contain the bacteria themselves, but provide the ideal conditions for the bacteria to thrive." .

The creation of the ideal environment for the good bacteria to thrive is made possible, among other things, by the consumption of dietary fiber, which is found in fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

Fiber not only allows good bacteria to thrive, but also takes an active part in improving digestive processes.

Prebiotics and Probiotics: What's the Difference?

Probiotics is a term that combines a series of foods that contain the good bacteria themselves. Good bacteria are usually found in foods that have undergone some fermentation process - such as pickles (vinegar or salt), sauerkraut and fermented cheeses (such as mold or brick cheeses). Yogurt is considered one of the foods with the highest rate of good bacteria, when today it is possible to purchase yogurts that list exactly how many such bacteria are in them. "The significant difference between probiotic yogurt and fermented foods is that we know exactly how many bacteria we get when we eat the yogurt," Tamar explains. "When we make pickles at home, or cook foods with probiotic ingredients, we do not know how all the changes they undergo along the way affect them. In a cup of yogurt there are no surprises.

Yogurt is considered one of the foods with the highest rate of good bacteria (Photo: Studio Gal Ben Zeev)

Treat it like a sport

Tamar is a nutritionist who deals with digestive disorders, but for years she did not eat yogurt even though she realized how important it was.

"It took me a while to learn, I remember me and another nutritionist doing a project where we thought about how I could easily incorporate more yogurt into the menu - because I understood the meaning of this little change. That's how I found out I really enjoy eating yogurt with strawberries and kiwi in winter - and it fitted me better From the fruits of summer, for example, but everyone can find the way that works for them. "

Tamar shares with us this story to emphasize that if you want to enjoy the beneficial effect of probiotics - it is not enough to just eat yogurt when there is a problem, such as if your stomach starts to ache or make strange noises.

"Probiotics are not a drug, if you eat probiotic foods once or twice a month - it probably will not produce a change. It is a process that requires regular maintenance. To be a healthy person - we must treat it like sports and make these foods an integral part of our lives. "You have to eat them every day, but do create an eating pattern that will include them in the menu several times a week."

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