Your lifestyle choice impacts how effective your probiotic supplements can be. Obviously, if you are choosing to take probiotics you are looking to enhance your digestive and overall health.

It makes sense for you to adapt your lifestyle to support the work a complete probiotic blend will do to boost your health. Everything from routine, to diet and water intake, as well as exercise, all play a part in getting the best results possible from your probiotics.

| Related: Can Daily Digestive Health Probiotics Help With IBS? |

Start Taking Prebiotics

Prebiotics are foods that help to nourish and enhance microorganisms. It is therefore to your advantage to include these as part of your diet if you are taking probiotic supplements. Examples of foods you can include are bananas, honey, whole grains, and garlic. These can help the friendly bacteria to colonize once they reach your gut. With two to four servings of prebiotics each day, you can be sure that your supplemental microorganisms will have much-needed support.  

The Right Foods

You want foods in your diet that are easy to process so your digestive system does not have to work overtime to get the nutrients from that that you need. High fiber content keeps foods moving through your digestive tract.

When there is a backup and you are constipated, the waste can begin to ferment which is hazardous to your health. Your probiotics will have to work extra hard to fight any toxic substances produced during this fermentation. So keep things moving and add high-fiber foods to your diet.

Keeping in-line with ensuring the digestive tract keeps a steady flow, choose lean meats over fatty red meats. High-fat content foods are harder to process and can cause a backup. If you must have fatty foods in your diet, then pair them with fiber solid foods to make the transit smoother.

Additionally, make sure you remain hydrated because water is responsible for making stool easier to pass. These actions will support the natural work of the probiotics. Without having to worry about fighting potential toxins, they can focus on getting nutrients into your bloodstream.  

Eat on a Schedule

You also need to make sure that you eat on a schedule. Your digestive system takes about 90 minutes to process a meal and you don't want to bombard it. So, space your meals and snacks out to keep a steady flow of food and subsequently, waste, through your digestive tract.

When it comes to taking a high potency probiotic supplement, make sure you always do so on an empty stomach.  The digestion of food activates stomach acid, which can break down the microorganisms in probiotics along with the food. The ideal time to take them is first thing in the morning before breakfast.  

Regular Exercise

Exercise plays a valuable role in your gut health because it impacts the diversity of bacterial strains in your intestines. Exercise can eliminate extra weight which adds pressure to your lower intestines. This added pressure makes it harder to expel waste. Again, you get a backup and potential toxic release, which can invite the microbes in your gut to turn pathogenic. You do not want to alter the balance of good to bad flora in your system.  

By exercising you can also reduce blood sugar levels and hormones. When these are out of sync or registering unhealthy levels, your body feels stressed, which can increase the likelihood of toxic bacteria taking over your gut. A regular exercise program such as yoga, light cardio or stretching will keep you in good enough shape to make sure your probiotics do not have to work too hard fighting off bad strains. Exercise is a natural way to help your body relieve the stress you accumulate through the day.

Your Routine Matters

To incorporate all the discussed factors and get the most from your probiotics, it is recommended to follow a routine. Each day you should mix the right foods, light exercise, and stress relief into your daily routine.

Over time you develop healthy habits and your probiotics are working for you in an optimal way. The more support that probiotics and your internal flora get, the better equipped they are to protect you and keep you healthy.

Increased nutrient absorption, more efficient digestion, an enhanced immune system, and overall well-being are within reach; simply by following a pre and probiotic supplement plan.

♦ Drink a large glass of body temperature water when you wake up in the morning because hydration is key for every essential function you will perform that day.

♦ Have breakfast consisting of a high-fiber toast or some oatmeal and fruit. Take your probiotic supplement with this meal.

♦ For lunch choose food that is low in fat, perhaps some lean meats and leafy greens. If time permits take a little walk around the block just to help the food move through your digestive tract.  Have a glass of water.

♦ If you hit that afternoon slump, tray another brisk walk to get the blood flowing or a small snack of probiotic yogurt. Some refreshing lemon water is always a good way to get a natural quick boost as well.

♦ Avoid sugary foods and caffeine because the boost you get will eventually cause a crash. The idea is to keep your body moving and keeps digestion flowing. For your multi strain probiotics to really work, your system needs to run smoothly.

♦ Dinner should again consist of proteins, low fat and high fiber. Try not to eat anything at least two hours before bed. The digestive system slows at night naturally, so this food will not get processed and will sit in your colon.

♦ To relieve any stress from the day, try a ten-minute meditation before bed or simply find some quiet time for yourself. Stress slows the system down so you want to remove as much of it as you can. Developing a habit of daily meditation will carry over to each day and your body will be better equipped to handle any stress. This means your system will not be as shocked when you encounter a stressful situation.

The Bottom Line

The probiotics living in your gut may have more impact on your health than genetics, which is why it’s time to give serious attention to our intestinal flora. Researchers now agree that declining levels of friendly bacteria in the intestinal tract may actually be a defining marker indicating the onset of a majority of chronic, degenerative disease. Harmful bacteria should not ever be completely eliminated, as a balance of both is necessary, but in a healthy body, when the bad guys can't proliferate, they are more restrained from causing illness. 

Read Next >>> Staying On Track With a Probiotics Routine

Sources

1. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627125525.htm

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705355/

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4757670/