The Best Ways To Get Probiotics On A Vegan Diet
As you may know, following a vegan or plant-based diet means that you’re cutting out all animal products and meat.
This alone can make it hard to ensure that you’re getting enough calories, vitamins, minerals, and proper nutrition overall.
However, what about the friendly bacteria that are in probiotics?
Probiotics can be essential to digestive health, immune support, and sometimes mental health.
The biggest sources of these friendly critters often come in the form of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, kefir, and soft cheeses, which are all off limits.
So how do you get your beneficial probiotics while following a vegan diet?
The answer is easier than you may think!
There are actually many sources that have naturally occurring probiotics in them that still follow the plant-based diet guidelines.
Vegan-Friendly Probiotic Sources
1. Non-Dairy, Live-Cultured Yogurt
It may seem hard to believe, but yogurt can actually be made with products other than milk.
You can now buy yogurt that’s made with coconut milk that still packs a probiotic punch and tastes delicious.
2. Sourdough Bread
Sourdough bread, whether eaten as a sandwich or by itself, is a great option for vegans looking for digestive and immune support because it has probiotics in it.
3. Fermented Soy Products
Soy is used a lot in the vegan world because it’s a great meat alternative in many ways.
Japan’s Miso soup and Indonesian tempeh are great sources of probiotics that are vegan friendly.
4. Kimchi
A very common, spicy side dish in Korea is Kimchi.
Kimchi is made from fermented cabbage.
It’s full of vitamins, antioxidants, and most importantly probiotics.
5. Kombucha
Kombucha tea has become incredibly popular these days as a health drink.
It has a ton of health benefits including active enzymes, detoxification properties, antioxidants, and amino acids.
To top it all off, it has probiotics too!
6. Water Kefir
Water kefir is made up from yeast and bacteria, similar to kombucha.
It’s also called Japanese water crystals and tibicos.
Most importantly, it’s vegan friendly and contains helpful probiotics.
7. Nut And Soy Milks
Nut and soy milks actually already have probiotics in them.
However, they now have newer versions that include active cultures of probiotics.
Also, soy and nut milks taste great and are a great alternative to dairy milk.
8. Supplements
As with many vitamins and minerals, sometimes it’s much more efficient to take a supplement when your diet is lacking.
The same goes for probiotics.
Probiotic supplements contain very high amounts of bacteria cells in them and can offer great health benefits.
In Conclusion…
Just because you’re following a plant-based or vegan diet doesn’t mean you have to miss out on probiotics.
Pick your favorites from the list and try them out to start getting the healthy benefits of probiotics.
Also, be sure to use supplements along with food in order to get the most bang for your buck.
Check out our 10 best probiotic supplements here to find the best one for you!
