Prebiotics VS Probiotics

Let's talk about probiotics vs prebiotic. How are they different and is one more important than the other?

Let's start with prebiotics. I feel prebiotics are probably the lesser known of the two. Probiotics have been talked a lot about in the media and probably by even mentioned by your doctor but prebiotics are just as important.

What is a prebiotic? A prebiotic is the food for all those little probiotic bacteria that live in the gut. Its important to remember those little guys are alive and need an environment including food to fuel and keep them healthy. This fuel comes in the form of  FIBER!! More specifically soluble fiber. Soluble fiber lives in the large intestine and starts to dissolve in water and thus turns into the wonderful fermented treats for your gut bacteria. So a diet high in fiber translates to a diet that is higher in probiotics and that means food to keep the bacterial mob happy!!  Examples of good prebiotic foods are dandelion greens, onions, garlic, banana, apples and whole oats.

That brings us to probiotics. We have billions of bacteria living in our guts and they do lots to help us out. First they help protect our colon from harmful microbes and foreign organisms thus supporting our immune system. Second they help us absorb nutrients, and they produce certain vitamins and hormones like serotonin. The newer research has shown that producing hormones like serotonins that these bacteria then play a roll in our mental and emotional health as well. So as you can see these little guys are really busy. So probiotics are foods or supplements that we use to try to introduce more of these bacteria to the family.

The tricky part about probiotics is that they are living organism and they can die off without the right environment or they can be killed in stomach trying to make it to the colon. So there are a couple things to remember when you are looking to buy a probiotic supplement. One thing to look for are those in a capsule form and preferably one  that it refrigerated. Another thing to look for if possible is one that is enteric coated. This means that it has a special coating to try to protect it from the stomach acid. Another if possible is to get a capsule that contains a high number of bacteria, which will increase the odds that something will survive.

Another way to get you probiotics is to look to your diet. Start adding fermented foods to your diet. Great examples are sauerkraut, kombucha, yogurt, coconut kefir or dairy kefir and sour dough starter to name a few.

If you want to simply try to maintain a healthy gut population start by adding some prebiotic foods to your diet! Feed them, feed them, feed them!! If you have had to use too many antibiotics in your life, or struggling with a specific intestinal condition and are trying to rebuild the population of bacteria I would say do both pre and probiotics.                                                                                                                                        

Like with everything though listen to your body and what it can handle. There are foods that are great probiotic foods but can irritate some conditions, like dairy for example, and the same for some prebiotic foods, like wheat. So listen to your body and your specific needs and use this as a guide to research and ask your own questions.

Happy belly! Happy mind!