Probiotics for immunity can do wonders. Most of your immune system is in your gut. This is why probiotics are good bacteria that live in your digestive tract. They also help digest food, support your immune system and synthesise vitamins.

According to research, certain probiotic strains lessen the duration of respiratory infections. Eating more foods that have probiotics during the flu and cold season may reduce the impact of the common cold and even help hold it off.

If you want to maintain a healthy immune and digestive tract system, it is helpful to take foods that are rich in probiotics or even probiotics supplements. These foods contain good bacteria. Fermentation has been used as a way of preserving food. However, do not confuse pickling with fermentation. They are both forms of food preservation. Pickled food will not provide the benefits of probiotics.

Fermentation happens when bacteria convert sugars and carbohydrates in whole food items to an acid that preserves the food. You can get maximum benefits from different types of fermented foods by reading the labels and choosing those that contain live cultures. Unpasteurised and raw is best unless your immune system is compromised.

It is easy to come by probiotics in supermarkets nowadays. You will find them in the food section. Choose foods that have been kept in the fridge and say they have cultures that are alive. If you want to enjoy the benefits of probiotics, you should avoid pasteurised products since pasteurisation kills good bacteria. It is also cheap and simple to make foods rich in probiotics at home.

Some of the common sources of probiotics include fermented fruits, fermented vegetables, kombucha, yogurt, water kefir, homemade coconut milk, natty, beet kvass and so on.

Carrot, green cabbage and sauerkraut

If you want to make sauerkraut packed with probiotics, it is easy. You will need one head of green cabbage, two tablespoons of grated ginger, one tablespoon of sea salt, and a ten-ounce bag of organic shredded carrots.

You should then wash two 1-quart wide-mouthed jars with soap and hot water or you can sterilise the jars with hot water. Now remove the outer leaves of your cabbage and scrub the outside part of the cabbage. Shred or chop the cabbage into fine ribbons. Now combine with grated ginger and shredded carrots.

You should go ahead and salt the vegetables lightly. Now squeeze the salted vegetables until the cabbage is soft. Make sure it releases a pool of juice at the bottom of your bowl. Pack the vegetables into the sterilised jars and press them down with enough force so that air is removed and the juice rises over your vegetables. Put one of the outer cabbage leaves at the top of the packed vegetables and fold the leaf as you press down. Submerge it fully under your liquid to prevent loose particles from floating.

Screw the top on your jars and release the pressure each day. Allow it to ferment for three days to about three weeks as you taste it along the way. When it becomes acidic, it will be ready with probiotics for immunity.