Probiotic drinks: I'm here for the flavors, the healthy part is just a bonus

Despite the fact that I'm a foodie, I must confess I do not have an iron stomach. In fact, ever since I was in middle school I have always had quite a sensitive gastrointestinal system. New ailments seem to pop up every other year for me. I tried taking a probiotic once, and the instructions on the back said you might feel worse for the first two weeks of taking it, but when two weeks came and went and I still felt terrible, I figured perhaps that was not the best course of action for me. I've tried eating yogurt regularly as well but sometimes that upsets my stomach too.

Well one of my new favorite Whole Foods discoveries has been probiotic drinks. I was a bit skeptical at first, but to tell you the truth, I was drawn more to the flavors than the fact that they were labeled probiotic. That's the thing for me: if it doesn't LOOK good, I don't care how good for you it is, I'm probably not going to want to try it.

My two favorite brands of probiotic drinks are Good Belly and KeVita. Good Belly is strictly a juice drink and KeVita is a sparkling drink.

Both brands have some really great flavors (like mango, pomegranate blackberry, grapefruit, lemon ginger), but my Whole Foods only carries a few of them. I'm hoping they eventually start carrying more.

KeVita, while delicious, is on the pricey side (close to $4.00 for a 15 oz bottle), so I only buy a couple at a time, but I especially love the lemon ginger flavor. It's very refreshing and has a nice little kick to it.

I have also noticed a small improvement in how my stomach feels since I started on these drinks. Only time will tell if they show any sort of long term effects. But as of right now, the probiotic part is just a bonus. I wouldn't be drinking them if the flavors weren't appealing because to me, that's the most important part. So I will keep drinking them for the yummy flavors, but I will keep my fingers crossed that they will continue to improve my gastrointestinal health.

Getting on my foodie soapbox

I just returned home from grocery shopping a little while ago. I used to despise grocery shopping, but that's because I always felt so lost in a sea of endless food choices. But recently, I have come to enjoy my trips to the grocery store more and more for the simple fact that I have followed the rule of grocery shopping for healthy eating, which is to spend most of your time hanging out in the perimeter of the store where all the whole foods are rather than the inside aisles where all the processed food resides.

I usually go to the grocery store with my husband every Saturday morning and when we get there, he will go and take back the returnable bottles (Michigan has a ten cent deposit on bottles and cans) and I'll start shopping.

Every week he comes back from returning the bottles and declares, "How did I know I'd still find you in the produce section?"

Today, he repeated this routine and after hearing it week after week, over and over again, I snapped. I got snippy with him and said, "Why is that funny to you? This is where I SHOULD be spending most of my time. It means we're eating well and staying healthy."

I guess I got so defensive because eating healthy is not something worth making fun of, and it felt like he was poking fun at me. We should be giving a hard time to the people who don't bother to try to make real food, choosing instead to fill their carts with processed crap pumped full of chemicals. We should not be making fun of the people who are choosing to feed real, wholesome food to their families. That is honorable, not worthy of torment.

Roughly 50% of Americans are overweight or obese precisely because they don't spend enough time in the produce department, and you're going to make fun of me for spending most of my time there dear husband? I don't think so.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband. But sometimes I've got to set that boy straight. And when I was done with him, he walked away with his tail between his legs. That's usually what happens when I get on my soapbox. ;)