I’m going to let you in on a personal secret – I love Passover, I even love its food, but that food doesn’t love me back. I’m not even talking about the usual issues people like to giggle about, having to do with the lack of fibre in matzah. My mother gave me a good recipe for compote (a stew made of dried fruit, primarily prunes), and that usually takes care of that. It’s just … how I feel.

I’m a pescatarian who requires a lot of protein, and we eat a lot of fish during Passover, when I can’t have my usual protein supplements. We also eat way too many carbs, mostly because there are several days when we spend too much time sitting around. It’s wonderful to have that family time, and my kids, now all young adults, are great at entertaining themselves without electronics. I get a lot of reading and napping done. But we do eat too much junk, and I feel the consequences. I feel blah, bloated and lacking in energy. What to do?

One way I try to improve the way my body feels is by taking probiotics. Those are just cultures of beneficial bacteria – if our gut environment is not feeling great, they can help us kickstart a better one by crowding out the less beneficial ones and helping us digest our food better.

I have had a serious digestive autoimmune disease since 1987, and probiotics have been a major part of my health management system for many years now. The ones I take are very heavy-duty and probably not suitable for most people, but I feel that most people’s health could be improved by paying better attention to their gut flora – after all, our gut creates almost all of our serotonin, the neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. Who wouldn’t want that to be in good working order?

Taking care of your gut involves more than just supplements, of course – being conscious of what you are eating, getting enough exercise and sleep – not surprisingly, all the things we are told to do to take good care of our brain and our heart are also good for our gut. You’d think it was all one system!

The link I provided above is probably a good place to start if you want to learn more about probiotics and why you might want to consider adding them to your self-care regimen. I do have some recommendations, drop me a message if you would like to learn more.

Join me live every Wednesday evening, at 7 pm CDT, on my YouTube channel and social media, to talk about wellbeing topics.