Prebiotics and Probiotics

We are simply covered in bacteria. It sounds all a bit yuk when we say within our guts 35-50% of the content is bacteria, containing up to 400 different species or 100 trillion individual bacterium. But not all bacteria are bad, some are in fact beneficial.

Probiotics
Probiotics are good bacteria that we are adding to foods or taking as a supplement. By doing this we increase the number of beneficial bacteria in our guts. For years we have been eating them in our yoghurts and other fermented products but now we can get also large doses as supplements.

Prebiotics
Prebiotics are what the probiotics feed on. Prebiotics are complex carbohydrates including fibres and fructooligiosaccharides (FOS) that are undigested until they reach our colon, where they are fermented. This helps with healthy bowel function but also feeds our probiotic bacteria. These are found in foods such as bananas, asparagus, onion, garlic, honey, beer, leeks and artichoke. Increasingly these complex carbohydrates are being added to our foods as a food source for the probiotics.

Benefits of probiotics.
Beneficial bacteria help us absorb nutrients and vitamins. There also appears to be links with reducing allergies, boosting immunity, reducing lactose intolerance, prevention of osteoporosis, decreasing blood pressure, improving gut function, decreasing the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, reducing flatulence (Lactobacillus casei), preventing tooth decay (LGG – Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG), assisting weight loss and may have a link to reduction in some cancers. It has been observed that probiotics taken in pregnancy can reduce the risk of the baby developing allergies by 50%.

If you have a tummy bug and/or diarrhea, try taking a course of probiotics (with LGG). Tummy upsets are frequently caused by an excess of bad bacteria. The faster we get the good bacteria back in the faster we recover. Also consider after a course of antibiotics or if suffering from thrush or other infections i.e. when your immunity levels are low.

Large numbers are needed you want to be looking for at least one million per gram of each type of bacteria. Also remember probiotics are alive and do die with time, so fresh is best.