Foods For Your Digestive Tract

If you have ever suffered with heartburn, lactose intolerance, or acid reflux, you know there are certain foods that just don't sit well.  According to an article in the August 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, there's plenty of stuff you can eat that actually aids a host of digestive conditions. Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that live in your intestine and aid digestion.  They also keep naturally occurring bad bacterial in check and may help treat gastrointestinal illness.  Newcomers on the health radar screen, probiotics are the nutrients that allow probiotics to thrive.  You can get both from certain foods, and eating them together is a great way to ensure they're doing the most for your body.

Best probiotic foods: Yogurt, buttermilk, cottage cheese, fermented milks such as acidophilus milk and kefir, and fermented soybean such as miso and tempeh.

Best prebiotic foods: Artichokes, bananas, berries, almonds, barley, flax, wheat, oats, leeks, asparagus, honey, chicory root, garlic, onions, and legumes

Tips: Combine oats with yogurt in the morning for maximum benefit.  Not sure about your yogurt's probiotic status? Look for the National Yogurt Association's Live & Active Cultures seal (aboutyogurt.com) to see if your yogurt has enough to get a health benefit (100 million cultures per gram, or for frozen yogurt, 10 million per gram).