Yesterday afternoon, as Margot and I sat studying, I was surprised to come across a picture of a familiar bottle:

There’s kombucha in my homework! The picture even depicts my (elusive) favorite flavor, Divine Grape.

Once I actually read the accompanying text, I understood why kombucha might appear in a microbiology textbook—it’s just one of many products currently being marketed as a “probiotic.”

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization, probiotics may be defined as follows:

“Probiotics are suspensions of live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a perceived health benefit on the host.”

The theory is that consumption of foods (and yummy fermented beverages) aid in changing or re-establishing gastrointestinal microbial flora to promote health.

Mmm. Microbes. Tasty.

Don’t stock up on Activia just yet, my friends. According to the available scientific research, probiotics may provide short-term benefits…but evidence indicating their long-term benefits is lacking. To date, there has yet to be a study conducted in which probiotics have conferred lasting, positive health effects.

Nonetheless, research has demonstrated that intestinal microflora can be changed rapidly upon consumption of probiotics.

Bottom Line: I say, keep consuming probiotic products if you enjoy the flavor and the sense of well-being they may provide. I love my kombucha, so I don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon. However, until further research is conducted, don’t expect these products to reverse gastrointestinal disease in the long-term.

Do you regularly consume probiotic products? Do you think they make a significant difference in your overall health?

Also, just for fun—if you’re a kombucha drinker, what’s your favorite flavor?

Onto the grub!

As I mentioned yesterday, I have tempeh bacon in the house. The Elvis had to appear on the breakfast table eventually.

A few weeks ago, my Yummus Hummus post sparked some conversation about the wonders of pesto hummus. It sparked a craving in my culinary brain…so I made my own batch of it for lunch. I didn’t use my original recipe, however—I cheated and used store-bought pesto, but I added more fresh basil to the mix at least.

Now that Seth is gone for the week, I used this sudden abundance of “me time” to make Ellie’s Crab Cakes with Smarter Tartar.

My tweaks:

-I omitted the egg, as it’s difficult to scale down a recipe to use a fraction of an egg.

-I used claw crab meat instead of lump—I’m on a limited budget!

To be frank, these crab cakes were a little meh. The texture was a little off—they didn’t hold together very well, probably because I didn’t have the egg in there as a binder. Furthermore, the flavor was just salty more than anything else. I much preferred Ellie’s Salmon Cakes with Ginger Sesame Sauce. At least the tartar sauce was good—I licked that little bowl clean!

OK, I am off to watch TLC and pretend to study. Good night!

Filed under: Meals