The Missing Ingredient Your Smoothie Needs For The Ultimate Gut-Healthy Boost

Smoothies have become the health-food staple of the century due to their deliciously high-nutrient content. Along with juicing, making a smoothie is a go-to breakfast when many of us want to get the vitamins we need without eating a full bag of carrots. Another trend that has helped many heal their digestive issues, adding probiotics to your wellness routine can be as easy as adding it to your smoothie or juice.

If you're looking for another smoothie ingredient you can taste, try adding a probiotic-rich yogurt, which can help improve your gut flora. Using even further fermented foods like Kefir can also pack a powerful probiotic punch to your morning routine (via Healthline). Looking for other options? You can include a powder probiotic in your morning blend to give your gut a boost, as well. Using a protein probiotic powder in a smoothie gives your system an extra serving of protein along with the healthy bacteria you need for your digestive tract, per Hello Glow. But if powders aren't your thing, try a liquid probiotic that you can simply drop into your fresh juices and smoothies as a flavorless ingredient.

In addition to adding the ultimate gut-healthy boost to your smoothie (or juice), probiotics may benefit your health in other ways.

After loading up your blender with nutrient-rich foods, it's important to ensure that you reap the full benefits of your smoothie by giving your gut what it needs. These probiotics are also able to produce mood-stabilizing hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, which aid in mood regulation (via MBG Health). According to the site, this bacteria can be beneficial for mental health in this way, because it has "a direct link to the central nervous system."

Depending on the ingredient list for your smoothie, probiotics may also amplify the skin-healthy benefits of your ingredients, with antimicrobial components that can improve symptoms of acne, eczema, inflammation, and more. In addition to the skin-healthy side effects, the benefits of probiotics are amplified when you take them on an empty stomach. 

By adding them to your smoothie first thing in the morning, the gut can more easily absorb the bacteria. "This is the time when your stomach environment is at its least acidic, because your body has not yet begun to produce stomach acid in large quantities to digest your food," nutritionist Lisa Richards told Well+Good. "Taking your probiotics at this time will make their passage to your gut a little easier, and ensure you get the most from those beneficial bacteria." So, you may be able to up-level your morning routine with a healthy dose of probiotics in your juice or smoothie.