Probiotics

At N1 – your leading Johannesburg and Cape Town meat wholesalers – we take great pride in our core values and we constantly strive to provide the best quality, service and delivery possible! We also believe in keeping abreast of all things in the wholesale meat and food industry, and that includes the role food plays in our health. A subject that’s gained much attention in the world of nutrition is how important a happy gut is for optimal health.

We’ve dealt extensively with how pre-and probiotics can influence your gastrointestinal tract and why it’s vitally important to keep your digestive system functioning optimally – we all know happy guts equal happy bodies. But in an age of ever-increasing food sensitivities, another topic is raising its head as a potential culprit of digestive issues: FODMAPs.

Functional foods are foods that not only provide nutritional value and sustenance, but also additional health benefits. The term first surfaced in Japan in the 1980s as part of a food approval process run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, to identify foods that contained ingredients that had a beneficial effect on health and disease prevention.

While we are all familiar with the macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat; and the role each plays in helping our bodies function and perform optimally; less is known about probiotics and the role it plays in optimising our health. Already established as an aid for our digestive systems (doctors rarely prescribe antibiotics, known to cause upset stomachs, without also prescribing probiotics), ongoing research into probiotics is constantly identifying new value and health benefits.