Hello, and welcome to Living In The Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

What does your gut tell about your health and wellness?

Well, we're about to find out.

Grover Silcox is here, and he's been delving into the growing interest in probiotics to treat and manage illnesses.

- Grover, great to see you.

- Great to be here.

So, we're hearing more and more about probiotics every day, so what did you learn?

- Well, millions of people consume probiotics, generally in their food or as supplements.

- Gotcha.

So, are certain probiotics for certain illnesses or to manage certain illnesses, or is it a blanket thing, you just take probiotics to fix it all?

- Well, research does show that probiotics can treat certain illnesses and conditions.

But medical science still has a lot to learn about which probiotics specifically treat which conditions.

And yet probiotics have proven very helpful in treating diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infections, Crohn's disease, eczema in children and dozens of other conditions.

To delve further into probiotics, I spoke with Jessica DeLuise, a physician assistant, certified culinary medicine specialist and Emmy-award-winning host of Eat Your Way To Wellness, now streaming on Tubi TV.

Jessica, how are you?

- Hello, Grover!

I am fantastic!

How are you doing?

- I couldn't be better.

Thanks so much for asking.

Let's get started.

Probiotics, what are they?

- Probiotics are these microorganisms that have an intendant and potential benefit when we either consume them or we apply them topically.

And when we talk about microorganisms, I think the first thing that comes into your head is icky, gross, very pathologic, cold and flu.

But, really, these organisms can provide a potential positive benefit on our overall wellness, Grover.

- And so, where are we in terms of the science of probiotics?

- We do have some good information about probiotics in the context of some GI issues, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea.

I'm seeing more and more every day, Grover, about mental health, which is really something that's pretty neat, because, obviously, mental health is such a big topic in health care.

So, we're finding, as we learn more, that all of the different strains or organisms can actually help with a different disease process.

So that's why it's so individualized, and it's really a conversation to have at your primary care office.

- We hear the term microbiome, and what does that refer to?

- So, the microbiome is exactly what we're feeding when we consume or apply probiotics.

So you may also have heard the term gut health.

It's a popular term in the news and on social media.

And that's because our microbiome is this network of microorganisms that always live in or on our body.

We're never going to be without that.

And it's this network that helps feed our gut flora.

So the gut flora is part of our microbiome.

Actually, the majority of our microbiome, this network, lives within our gut.

And there are a lot of benefits to feeding that microbiome.

- So, where do the probiotics come from?

- If we're not getting them from supplements that we're purchasing at the store or online, they're coming from different food sources.

Generally, these foods are fermented foods, and I have some examples here.

And actually, it's really fun, Grover, to get your probiotics into your diet, because pickles are one of my favorite snack foods or accompaniment to a sandwich, and if you get those fermented pickles...

So, these are half sours, not the vinegar pickles that you're finding in the aisles, because they're not fermented, but fermented pickles or other fermented veggies, like fermented sauerkraut.

You're going to get some probiotics from some of your dairy items, like kefir or yoghurt, and also you can find the vegan option, if that's the choice that you're making.

You can get the vegan option in terms of those items.

Apple cider vinegar.

This is probably the easiest one to incorporate, Grover, because if you just add it to your favorite dressing, your favorite dip...

Some people are just putting apple cider vinegar with some lemon in water in the morning, which they report helps with some digestion or some reflux.

What else do we have?

Ah, one of my favorites, which has this beautiful effervescence, is kombucha.

So, kombucha is a fermented tea.

Oh, look, I'm getting excited!

Maybe I'll hold off on opening that up, so I don't make a mess here.

But fermented tea is really beautiful colors.

You can find different flavors.

And instead of grabbing a sugar-laden soda, you might grab a kombucha.

Whenever you're incorporating these into your diet after you've gotten that clearance from your provider, you want to look at the ingredients.

A lot of kombuchas are laden with sugar or some flavorings.

Even your yoghurt, you can sometimes have, according to the American Heart... ...more than the American Heart Association recommended value of sugar in some yoghurts.

So you do want to be careful when choosing these foods.

But this is a fermented tea, and fermented, meaning that it's going to have those probiotics in it.

And guess what, all of these different foods are going to have different strains of organisms.

They're going to have different varieties of organism.

So it is something that you choose to incorporate, a variety.

And you can incorporate them with every meal.

I try to have kombucha with lunch, yoghurt for breakfast, that kind of thing.

Miso soup is something that we're often seeing in restaurants.

That's another great source of fermented probiotics.

And I share a lot of these recipes on my social media.

I'm often sharing how to swap out some things, for example on tacos swap out the sour cream, swap in the plain yoghurt.

So it's really easy to get those probiotics into foods that we already love.

Or how about kombucha as a cocktail?

Maybe adding a little bit of wine or vodka into some kombucha instead of a sugary juice or soda.

So really easy and diverse.

No matter what you're choosing to eat in your kitchen, you can get your probiotics in.

- Should folks try to get their probiotics in food or supplements?

- I am of the mind-set that if we can eat a wholesome diet and these fermented organisms in food sources, that is a great way to incorporate even your vitamin supplementation, your mineral supplementation, via food sources.

However, if you can't do that, then I would definitely probably look to those supplements.

Someone once told me that the name of the game with probiotics and these microorganisms is variety.

So even if you're taking one supplement, switching that up once every couple of months or getting the variety of the foods, or both, into your daily regimen.

- This is so relatively new.

There's a lot to learn yet, even for the medical professional.

- That's right.

And I will give one quick tip.

A big thing that I'm seeing at the grocery store, Grover, and companies are charging for it, is something called prebiotics.

So you might see a probiotic/prebiotic mix in the supplement.

Prebiotics are basically those fibers that we're finding in our fruits and vegetables or legumes, and those fibers feed those organisms in our gut.

I always tell patients, instead of paying more for that prebiotic, unless you've been specifically told to get a supplement with a prebiotic, just eat a wholesome diet with fruits and vegetables, and you should be getting enough food for those probiotics organisms to feed them and help them flourish.

- How about the cost, and where are the best places to get them?

- Cost is going to vary when you're looking for a supplement.

You're going to see a lot of different formulations, sometimes in a refrigerated liquid, sometimes in a capsule.

And I think it just is going to depend on what you're looking for, the strains you're looking for, and what the goal is.

When you're looking at cost or different formulations, something to maybe take photos of with your cellphone when you're at the grocery store, and then bring that back and talk with your provider or your registered dietician about which one looks best.

- Jessica, I want to thank you so much.

Obviously, when it comes to probiotics, there's a lot to digest!

- Oh, I see what you did there!

That was very funny.

- Well, I want to thank you for your insights.

Thanks for joining us.

- Thanks so much for having me, Grover.

It was great to see you.

- Same here.

Bye-bye.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, an estimated 100 trillion microorganisms, representing more than 500 different species, inhabit every normal human gut.

And most are helpful.

Together, these microorganisms form a person's biome.

In the future, scientists believe that the biome and probiotics will be at the center of treating and preventing illness and achieving overall health and wellness.

For now, they serve to complement traditional health care and medications.

- Very interesting, Grover.

If someone's interested in starting to take probiotics, what's the first step?

- Well, as Jessica suggested and other health care providers recommend, start by consulting with your primary physician or your dietician or specialist.

- Gotcha.

So start there, and then, if you want specific probiotics for specific things, what should you do then?

- Again, go back to your primary, but also make sure that you read the labels.

You want to make sure about the expiration date and whether it needs refrigeration, because many probiotics do need to be refrigerated.

- OK, good to know.

I have to admit, my husband brews kombucha.

You mentioned kombucha.

He brews kombucha, so now I'm going to make him share it with me, because now I know all about the probiotics.

- That's inspired me to want to try it myself.

- I'll have to bring you some in.

- You got it.

- Sounds good.

Grover, as always, thank you so much for joining us.

- You're welcome.

- And that'll do it for this edition of Living In The Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.