Prebiotics coupled with probiotics are able to balance the bacteria that live within the human body’s digestive system, to enable a thriving environment and the best digestive health possible. This combination can be so beneficial that it is best to take prebiotics supplements and probiotic supplements.
Prebiotics are natural food sources that are non-digestible, making their way through the digestive system into the colon, where they will provide the necessary food needed by the good bacteria to be able to grow and thrive properly – and they do this while providing no benefits to the harmful bacteria that is also found.
Probiotics on the other hand are the good bacteria found in different types of food. When probiotics are consumed, beneficial bacteria is added in the digestive system. The most common strains of probiotics include Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli.
When prebiotics and probiotics are mixed together, they result in a symbiotic relationship – where one becomes stronger from the other, and the combination increases the overall effectiveness and benefits, over what either could provide individually.
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are a food source for the productive growth of bacteria, feeding probiotics and helping them to grow. They contain the dietary fibers Fructooligosaccharides or FOS and Inulin, which are the natural sugars that one can get from kiwifruit, bananas, onions, soybeans, leeks, some types of whole grains, and asparagus, among others – chicory root and Jerusalem artichokes are the foods with the highest prebiotics content.
But getting prebiotics from foods only can be a problem, because the foods don’t really contain enough quantity to provide the maximum benefits. Additionally, some of the most important content may be in parts of the foods that you aren’t going to eat, like the stems or skin.
Consequently, these foods may be very healthy and nutritional to add to your diet, but supplements are the best way to get your prebiotics.
Probiotics
Probiotics are good bacteria that are like what is already found in your colon. Due to circumstances like poor diet, illness, or the need to have taken antibiotics it may be important to add to more probiotics to your naturally found good bacteria.
Probiotics are not found in any foods, they must be manmade through a fermentation process. Yogurt is the best known probiotics, with other fermented foods like different soy products and sauerkraut also containing them.
You really want to be careful though when adding probiotics through foods, because you really don’t know what you will be getting in terms of quantity or type of bacteria. There are no standards or requirements for this, and it can become very misleading.
For instance, so many people eat yogurt for its probiotics benefits – but the yogurt doesn’t even have to include live cultures, and if it has been pasteurized then almost assuredly it doesn’t. As well, so much of the yogurt products have a lot of sugar, which is known to be harmful to the good bacteria.
So, like taking prebiotics supplements to get your prebiotics – take a probiotics supplement, and know that you are adding live active cultures and good bacteria to your GI tract.
Your digestive health has a large effect on your immune system and overall health, and this includes how you feel on a daily basis. I know that if I have stomach bloating or regularity issues, then I just don’t feel well.