Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are essential to your digestive system and for keeping your gut healthy.  As well as promoting better absorption of essential nutrients and minerals, they also aid in the transition of food through the intestines and assist in controlling the glycemic index of foods.

Prebiotics basically serve as food for probiotics.  Probiotics are only effective if they are “live”, and they “die” quickly due to many factors such as heat, stomach acid and shelf-life.  Prebiotics basically extend the “life” of a probiotic.

Intelligent Labs Probiotic with Prebiotics is our top pick due to the ideal combination of patented Sunfiber® and FOS pro- and pre-biotic strains.

Intelligent Labs also takes the “life” of probiotics into full consideration by topping their capsules with over 150 billion colony-forming units (CFU)*, and packaging their product in specialized containers to ensure the probiotics stay virtually moisture free and reduce oxygen levels in the bottle to only 0.01%.

This essentially means that the “strength” of your supplement will still have ample potency for a longer “shelf-life” time span. In fact, they guarantee that “each capsule contains a minimum of 50 CFU when you take it, unlike other brands whose strength starts to decrease quickly after manufacture.”

*CFU refers to the number of live and active micro-organisms that can be found in each serving of the probiotic you are taking.

L-THEANINE

Our Recommendation:  Sports Research L-theanine with Suntheanine®

Blog Post:  Relief from Keto Insomnia and Fatigue

Keto fatigue and/or keto insomnia is the “cycle” of experiencing low energy levels and varied sleep patterns. This is a natural process that takes place when your body is transiting from a carb-heavy fuel system to a fat-burning ketogenic machine.

Our “top pick” for a quality L-theanine is definitely the Sports Research brand because they boast quality certifications and the addition of the highly regarded Suntheanine®. 

In 2000, Taiyo International, a leading manufacture in the development and production of highly functional ingredients for the food and pharmaceutical industries patented Suntheanine®; Taiyo’s pure form of L-theanine.  At the 1998 Food Ingredients Europe, Suntheanine® was awarded the “Food Ingredient Research Award” and in 2000, awarded “Best New Product” at Nutracon.

ELECTROLYTES

Our Recommendation:   Lyte Balance Electrolyte Liquid Concentrate

2nd Recommendation:   Ultima Flavoured Electrolyte Powder

Blog Post:  Electrolytes and the Ketogenic Lifestyle

Electrolytes are minerals that form electrically-charged particles (ions) that are distributed through the fluid in your body.  Some of the key benefits to hydrating with electrolytes include regulating nerve and muscle function, maintaining the correct acidity (pH) of your blood, controlling your fluid balance, regulating blood pressure, and helping to rebuild damaged tissue.

Electrolyte supplements generally contain sodium, potassium, and magnesium which is ideal for the ketogenic lifestyle as they offer amped-up hydration for flushing your entire system as well as the proper nutrients for preventing headaches and fatigue.

Since water intake is the foundation of the ketogenic lifestyle, we highly recommend both Lyte Balance Electrolyte Liquid Concentrate and Ultima Flavoured Electrolyte Powder.

Lyte Balance is ideal for the ketogenic lifestyle as it contains no caffeine or preservatives, and has zero calories, zero carbs, zero sugars and, zero proteins!  This brand is unflavored making it versatile for consumption.

Ultima offers the same clean ingredients (zero, zero, zero), but also 6 electrolytes and support minerals – vitamin C, calcium, chloride and phosphorous in addition to the sodium, potassium, and magnesium

Ultima is flavored.  We find that our intake of water consumption per day has increased simply due to the delicious taste.