How to Make Fizzy Probiotic Lemonade for Gut Health

There are so many probiotic drinks on the market today, but did you know you can easily make your own healthy probiotic drinks at home? This fizzy probiotic lemonade is one of the most simple probiotic beverages to throw together, and is ready to drink in just a couple of days! 

Benefits of a Healthy Microbiome

Having a healthy balance of microflora is vital to intestinal health. The microbiome is one of the building blocks to overall health, affecting not only digestive health but also the immune system, healthy energy levels, and more. Microflora in the intestinal system affect the gut-brain axis, which involves the communication between the GI tract and the central nervous system. This network involves hormonal, neuron, metabolic, and immune function!

It’s so important to have a healthy intestinal microbiome for overall health.

Why Probiotic Lemonade?

Lemonade is such a refreshing drink, packed with healthy vitamin c from the lemon juice. By fermenting lemonade, you are adding lots of good bacteria to your drink, which has so many health benefits.

An Epidemic of Unhealthy Guts

When there is an imbalance of microflora in the gut, the gut lining becomes compromised, which leads to many issues for human health. Daily digestion is not the only process that is negatively affected.

I’m sure you’ve heard of these issues before – leaky gut, irritable bowl syndrome, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, a variety of autoimmune diseases, and so much more. There are many health issues that can be linked back to an unbalanced microbiome. Why?

• The modern diet is dramatically different from what it was not so long ago. We didn’t used to have packaged foods with preservatives and gut-damaging ingredients like highly processed oils, thickeners, artificial colors, and artificial sweeteners.

•  We didn’t have many of the genetically modified foods we have today, like wheat and corn for example. 

• Our modern environment has many chemicals around that kill bacteria: not only the bad bacteria, but also the the beneficial bacteria. (Things like pesticides, cleaners, toxins in the air, antibiotics, other medications.)

• One of the big ways our diet has changed is how we prepare our food. Historically, fermentation was an important part of food preparation. Not only did fermenting help to preserve food, it also created unique flavors that have been an important factor in the development of cuisines across the globe. Important foods like cheese, bread, yogurt, sauces, and of course beer and wine – none of these would have existed without fermentation. This added many beneficial bacteria, as well as made many foods easier to digest, improving the intestinal health of our ancestors.

One great way to to help add beneficial bacteria to the gut is by regularly enjoying a healthy probiotic drink! Having a probiotic drink is a great addition to your daily routine, because they are an easy and delicious way to add beneficial bacteria to your diet.  

Why You Will Love This Recipe  

Easy: Some fermented beverage recipes can take a couple of weeks to make, like my probiotic ginger beer for example. This is because you have to develop a ginger “starter”. With this recipe, all you need is fresh lemon juice, whey from straining yogurt, a natural sweetener (my favorite is honey), filtered water, and a bottle with a stopper. The whey is what will give your lemonade the probiotic bacteria and natural fizziness! 

Healthy: if you are looking for a refreshing drink that could also help to improve your overall well being, give this lemonade a try – your digestive tract, immune health, mood balance, and whole body will thank you! Not only is it packed with beneficial bacteria, it’s loaded with vitamin C, too!

Delicious: The fermentation process adds a bubbly zing to this sweet and tart lemonade! This makes it deliciously refreshing, with lemon zest that really brings out the fresh taste of lemon.

How to Get Whey

Whey is the leftover product of strained fermented dairy products.

Making your own yogurt is a great way to start incorporating healthy probiotics into your diet. Here is an easy tutorial to follow for making your own yogurt. You can also experiment with adding more beneficial bacteria strains to your yogurt by adding a variety of strains from a standard probiotic capsule, not just the ones in a store-bought yogurt as a starter culture. This will provide an added probiotic complex that you may not be able to find in many commercial yogurt types. 

Once you have your yogurt, strain the yogurt through a cheese cloth or butter muslin (if you follow my tutorial, you will already be doing this). This thickens the yogurt by removing some of the liquid whey. This whey is full of probiotics, just like the yogurt! 

If you aren’t ready to make your own yogurt, you can just buy regular organic yogurt and strain it yourself to obtain the whey. Make sure to buy plain unflavored yogurt, and to not buy greek yogurt or skyr (the latter varieties are already strained). 

How to Make Probiotic Lemonade for Gut Health

Add natural sugar to a large bowl, then add lukewarm water. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved.

Add whey and stir well.

Add lemon juice, zest, and salt. Stir until well combined.

Using a funnel or pitcher, transfer liquid into a bottle with a stopper.

Close bottle and let ferment at room temperature for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, release pressure by opening the bottle. Close bottle again and ferment for 24 more hours.

Transfer to the refrigerator to chill.

Enjoy plain or over ice!

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Bottles with flip top silicone stoppers

Stainless steel old fashioned ice tray

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Disclaimer: This post does not contain medical advice.