The Most Effective Way to Take Probiotics
What's the best way to take probiotics? An expert explains.
On this episode of The Gabby Reece Show, Dr. Yinka Davies, who did her fellowship as a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Stanford University Medical Center, talked with host Gabby Reece about gut health for athletes, the most effective way to take probiotics, and getting back to the basics of nutrition.
On the pod, Dr. Yinka Davies noted that 70-80% of the immune system is in the gut 🤯. She followed that endurance athletes can have a comprised gut lining due to the extreme amount of physical activity their bodies go through.
The good news?
Probiotics can help by nurturing the gut barrier, increasing immune function, helping with absorption, and decreasing inflammation.
So what’s the most effective way to take Probiotics?
- On an empty stomach
- First thing in the morning
- Everyday
Do strains matter?
Yes. Dr. Yinka Davies noted that when it comes to probiotics,“the strains matter, and the strains that are studied matter, and that’s what people have to look for.” She followed that, “you can’t just randomly grab bacteria together and hope that magic happens in the gut, you have to bring the right strains together that immunologically change the game in the gut flora.”
What to look for:
- Strains that have been clinically studied, and;
- Refrigerated or freeze dried probiotics (they need to still be alive when they enter your gut).
What about the probiotics found in yogurt, kombucha, and kimchi?
Dr. Davies noted that the probiotics found in fermented foods are a good start, “but it doesn’t really change the gut flora enough to make a huge difference…so you want that supplementation of that dietary supplement daily.”
On getting back to the basics:
“We really have to get back to the basics of just nourishing our souls. Like, eat the oatmeal every single day, get the rice and beans and eat that, grab an avocado and eat that with some sea salt, grab your two bananas, and really just get back to nourishing. Because we’re making this more complex than it actually is…we’ve got to go back to what we know is best.”
