With spring around the corner, there’s nothing more refreshing than a beautiful salad. Better yet–loaded with probiotics and an array of bright vegetables, salad greens and fruits.

This simple yet delicious salad is made with organic leafy greens and vegetables that contain Prebiotics (fiber in vegetables), Probiotics and antioxidants all in one.

It combines the sweetness from the pomegranate and apple, the citrus from the lemon in the dressing, a little saltiness from the condiments with the crisp taste of the vegetables. Oh and the probiotics come from the Kefir. Ummm.. Absolutely delicious!

So what makes this salad so especial? In a nutshell, the smart combination of ingredients. This salad was designed with a purpose;to heal, protect and nourish the gut.

But what is all this prebiotics, probiotics healing salad all about? I am glad you asked. Here is the break down:

What are Prebiotics?

Prebiotics are a type of fiber from your diet or as a supplement which get digested by friendly bacteria (probiotics). The digested components aren’t commonly taken intoy our bloodstream, which means that digestion occurring here is strictly for GI health.The digestion of prebiotics by probiotics results in the creation of various SCFA (small-chain fatty acids) which are used as the major fuel source for the cells that line our GI tract. The health of those cells is directly connected to having enough probiotics to help make SCFAs and enough prebiotics for one’s probiotics to process.

Now, how do I maximize the benefits in this healing and delicious salad? I simply add kefir and pomegranate to the dressing for an added bonus of antioxidants and probiotics. I love to add arugula to this mix, which gives the salad a nice kick while helping balance your hormones. Wait.. balance my hormones?

In this fantastic article. Enlightenedwithoutguru tells us that in order to balance the hormones women must turn off estrone and estrodial (bad estrogens) and raise estriol, progesterone and testosterone (in the correct zone), Vitamin D3 and DHEA.

There are certain types of estrogens when they are elevated around the age of 50-70 in both women and men can be very dangerous and could trigger or send signals to certain type of harmful cells to multiply.

These are estrone and estrodial. Estrodial is very important when going through puberty as it signals and signifies beauty and creates the female figure. When women are beyond 50 instead of triggering the female form (growth of breast tissue) it could instead trigger the growth of cancer cells.

On the other hand, when estriol and progesterone are low and estrone and estrodial are high we will see a tendency for breast, ovarian and reproductive diseases. When this occurs we need androgens like progesterone and testosterone (DHEA as well) to counter balance the bad estrogens.

Must Read: 9 Probiotic Foods You Should Be Eating Right Now To Improve Your Gut Health

How Arugula and other Cruciferous Help Balance Hormones

One of the main ways to balance your hormones is by finding out whether they are within optimal range in the first place. Then by detoxing your body from endocrine disruptors such as Xenoestrogens and other endocrine disruptors.

Now, the best way to detox your body is by doing by yearly detox protocols, eating organic wholesome foods, and replacing toxic household cleaner for safer ones to name a few. Check out the EWG’s site for a list of safe household cleaning products.

Eating 4-5 servings a week of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale and arugula are excellent ways to avoid the re-absorption of bad estrogens when they have been pushed out of the lymphatic system into the colon because they contain Calcium D-glucarate. {source}

Click here to learn about the three steps to hormonal balance

This salad is s super easy, clean, scrumptious and refreshing. What’s not to like?

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