Why You Didn't Know You Needed Sparkling Probiotics

If you haven’t heard of sparkling probiotics, don’t worry! In this article, we’ll give you a little background on these delicious, healthy drinks and tell you five reasons why you need sparkling probiotics in your life. 

Overview 

Before we dive into all the reasons you need to start drinking sparkling probiotics, let’s take a look at probiotics in general. 

What Are Probiotics?

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeast that are great for your overall health, especially your digestive system. A lot of times, probiotics are referred to as “good” bacteria because they help you maintain a healthy bacterial equilibrium in your gut and fight the “bad” bacteria that causes sickness. 

You can find probiotics in a wide range of food and beverages. Usually, probiotics are found in fermented foods or foods that require some kind of bacteria or yeast to make them, such as sourdough bread, yogurt, and tepache. The two main types of probiotic bacteria found in food and beverages are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Although more research still needs to be done, we already know there are tons of different health benefits to incorporating probiotics into your diet, which we’ll take a look at later in this article.   

What Are Sparkling Probiotics? 

Sparkling probiotics are probiotic drinks that have some kind of carbonation or fizz. Probiotic drinks are one of the fastest-growing categories of health drinks and have become wildly popular in the health food world recently. 

Is There a Difference Between Probiotics and Prebiotics? 

Yes! There is a difference between probiotics and prebiotics (which are talked about less but are just as important as probiotics). Basically, probiotics are healthy bacteria and yeast that live in your gut and aid your digestive system, immune system, and perform a whole bunch of other important tasks in the body. 

Prebiotics are the food for that bacteria and yeast. Given that probiotics are live organisms, they need food just like plants and animals. For this reason, it’s important to eat a diet rich in prebiotics. High-fiber foods are often prebiotic. Your body can’t digest some types of fiber, so it can pass through your system to your gut, where it becomes food for the healthy probiotic bacteria. 

What Are Some Examples of Sparkling Probiotics? 

Now that you know a bit more about prebiotics, you might be wondering: what are some examples of sparkling probiotic drinks? There are several different types of sparkling prebiotics, so we’ll take a look at two of the most common ones: tepache and kombucha.

Tepache 

Tepache is a delicious, traditional Mexican beverage that’s made from fermented pineapple rinds and cores. It’s bubbly and sweet with a citrus flavor with none of the bitterness of other fermented beverages like kombucha. Oftentimes, tepache is sold on the street in Mexico as a refreshing, mid-day treat. 

Tepache dates back to pre-Columbian Mexico and is thought to have originated with the Mayan Nauha people. Unlike other indigenous foods and beverages, tepache was not subject to taxation and standardization by the Spaniards. For this reason, the recipe was passed down orally for generations, and there are several different regional variations. That being said, the primary ingredients in tepache are pineapple, water, and panela, a type of unrefined whole cane sugar that’s popular in Central and South America. 

Kombucha 

Kombucha is a sparkling probiotic made from fermented black or green tea. Unlike tepache, kombucha is slightly complicated to make because you need a SCOBY (a bacteria and yeast culture) to make it. Kombucha originated in Northeast China around 220 B.C. and is now one of the most popular spark probiotic beverages available. 

5 Reasons You Need Sparking Probiotics in Your Life

Regardless of what type of sparkling probiotic you want to try, you definitely need to make these drinks a part of your regular diet. It’s not often that health foods are delicious, but with sparkling probiotics, you really don’t have to sacrifice flavor for nutrition. In case you’re not quite sold yet, here are five reasons you need to start drinking sparkling probiotics. 

They’re Great for Your Gut 

First and foremost, these drinks are great for your gut! Given that probiotics drinks are full of “good” bacteria, they can keep your intestinal tract healthy. Probiotics also allow you to get the most out of the nutrients in your diet by making them more absorbable and available for your body to use. 

They also help your gut to maintain that healthy equilibrium we discussed earlier. When the bacterial equilibrium in your gut is off-balance, you can get sick or experience bloating, diarrhea, constipation, etc. For this reason, it’s really important to make sure you’re incorporating foods and drinks such as sparkling probiotics that help the naturally occurring “good” bacteria in your gut fight off the bad bacteria.

It’s especially important to give your gut a boost after taking antibiotics. Antibiotics are medications that kill off the bacteria in your system that’s making you feel sick. Although they’re really effective at getting rid of bacteria, antibiotics also kill off good bacteria. So make sure to drink plenty of sparkling probiotics when you’re taking antibiotics to keep your gut microbiome healthy and balanced.

Goodbye, Soda. Hello, Sparkling Probiotics! 

Do you love the refreshing fizz of soda but hate how bad it is for you? If so, look no further than sparkling probiotics. The fermentation process used to make these drinks gives them a sparkly fizz very similar to that of soda. That being said, they’re not loaded with sugar and other harmful chemicals like most popular sodas. That’s why sparkling probiotics are the perfect solution for anyone who loves the fizz of soda but wants a healthy alternative. 

What’s more, sparkling probiotics like our tepache are naturally low-calorie. There are only 40 calories in a can of our tepache as opposed to the 192 calories found in a can of Sprite and 140 in a can of Coke. If you’re looking for a naturally delicious, low-calorie beverage, sparkling probiotics are the drink for you. 

They’re Super Flavorful… Naturally 

Another reason to swap out sparkling probiotics for soda is that they’re super flavorful, naturally! For example, our tepache is flavored with delicious natural ingredients such as ginger, apple, mango, chili, tamarind, orange, and turmeric. Although we use some sugar to sweeten our tepache, we rely mostly on the natural sugar found in fruit to give our beverages their sweet, distinct flavor.

Great With Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner! 

Unlike other carbonated drinks that are super sugary like soda or alcoholic like beer, you can drink sparkling probiotics at breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Our Ginger Manzana tepache would make the perfect addition to an oatmeal or avocado toast breakfast, and our Mango Chili flavor would be great for a little after-dinner spice. The wide variety of tepache flavors that range from sweet to spicy means that there’s a perfect flavor to accompany every meal of the day. 

They’ll Spice Up Any Cocktail Hour 

Sparkling probiotics, alongside being incredibly nutritious, make the perfect addition to some of your favorite cocktails! For example, tepache can be swapped out for pineapple juice in several recipes to give classic cocktails a carbonated twist. You can also mix kombucha with vodka and lime to spic up your Moscow Mule. 

Conclusion

Although we only gave you five in this article, there are countless other reasons why you should make sparkling probiotics a regular part of your diet. They’re incredibly tasty and nutritious, so go ahead, add a little sparkle to your life!

Sources:

Bacteria: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Center 4 Research

Sugary Drinks | The Nutrition Source | Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

Dietary fiber and prebiotics and the gastrointestinal microbiota | NCBI