Probiotics – Prebiotics | Online Wellness Community

Healthy probiotics are needed for your digestive system to work properly and uptake nutrients and process toxins. The antibiotics that you take for killing an infection will also kill the healthy bacteria in your digestive tract.

Prebiotics and probiotics can restore the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract. Quality health products today are increasingly including higher levels of enzymes and pre and probiotics as evidence supports wide benefits to maintaining health.

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that can be found in various foods. When you eat probiotics, you will add these healthy bacteria to your intestinal tract. Common strains include Lactobacillis and Bifidobacterium families of bacteria.

Prebiotics are non-digestible foods that make their way through our digestive system and help good bacteria grow and flourish. Prebiotics keep beneficial bacteria healthy.

Prebiotics that feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut mostly come from carbohydrate fibers called oligosaccharides. You don’t digest them, so the oligosaccharides remain in the digestive tract and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. Sources of oligosaccharides include fruits, legumes, and whole grains. Fructo-oligosaccharides may be taken as a supplement or added to foods. Yogurt made with bifidobacteria contain oligosaccharides.

Probiotic bacteria like lactobacilli are naturally found in fermented foods like sauerkraut and yogurt.

Prebiotic and Probiotic Supplements:

Probiotics are widely available as supplements. However, not all probiotic supplements are created equal. To make sure your probiotics get a good start, add some oligosaccharides to keep the probiotic bacteria healthy in your digestive system. The prebiotics may be taken as a supplement or may be added to your health foods.

The following excerpt from an article written by Katherine Zeratsky of the Mayo Clinic provides more detail on prebiotics:

Prebiotics are nondigestible nutrients that are used as an energy source by certain beneficial bacteria that naturally live in your intestines. Prebiotics are sometimes known as fermentable fiber.

Probiotics, in contrast, are the beneficial, or friendly, bacteria themselves. By acting as a food source, prebiotics give the probiotic bacteria a chance to exert their influence. These friendly bacteria may have several health benefits, from aiding digesting to boosting immunity. But stress, a poor diet, certain medical conditions, medications and other factors may decrease the number of healthy bacteria. Eating a diet that includes prebiotics and probiotics may help restore these friendly bacteria.

The role of prebiotics in the treatment of disease is controversial, and more studies are needed to determine their usefulness. But preliminary evidence shows that prebiotics may have a role in:

Improving antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Improving traveler’s diarrhea
Improving gastroenteritis
Normalizing bowel function
Improving colitis
Reducing irritable bowel problems
Aiding calcium absorption
Boosting your immune system

Prebiotics occur naturally in a variety of foods, especially high-fiber foods, including certain fruits, vegetables and grains. The main food sources of prebiotics include:

Artichokes
Bananas
Barley
Berries
Chicory
Dairy products
Flax
Garlic
Greens, such as dandelion greens, chard and kale
Honey
Leeks
Legumes
Onions
Wheat and whole grains, such as oatmeal

Prebiotics also are added to some dietary supplements and some processed foods, such as yogurt, drink mixes and meal-replacement bars. Read food labels and claims or seek out manufacturer Web sites to help identify which products contain prebiotics. But keep in mind that not all products with naturally occurring prebiotics are labeled that way. Prebiotic supplements can be sprinkled on your food, stirred into beverages, or taken as capsules or tablets that you swallow or chew.

There’s no specific guideline on how many grams of prebiotics to consume. Some studies suggest that you should get 3 to 8 grams a day to get the full benefits. In some cases, use of prebiotics may cause intestinal gas. As always, check with your doctor before taking any dietary or herbal supplements to make sure they’re safe for your situation.

Probiotics – Prebiotics

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