Pre & probiotics both are essential for our gut health but both are entirely different. Prebiotics are the food that promote growth of beneficial gut bacteria while on the other hand probiotics are edible sources that contain health promoting microbes. We are going to discuss both these categories of foods at length.
Our gut microbiome consists of millions of bacterial cells which carries out various important functions in our body. Benefits of having diverse bacteria goes beyond the gut. Some of essential functions gut microbes perform includes:
- Protect against metabolic diseases.
- Helps maintain a healthy body weight.
- Produce important short chain fatty acids(SCFA)
- Train immune system to work optimally
- Maintaining intestinal lining against leaky gut.
Our colonial bacteria trade their health promoting functions for a place to live in our large intestine. They do so well that we hardly know they are there. Probiotics & probiotics help in increasing our gut diversity thereby making us less susceptible to obesity & other lifestyle diseases.
Prebiotics are substances found in plant based foods which provide required fibre for sustenance of beneficial bacteria. Prebiotic dietary fibre, resistant starches & polyphenols promote the growth & activity of health promoting microbes. As shared earlier, our body cannot break these substances & hence they are passed on to microbiota where your gut microbes convert them into useful metabolites such as short chain fatty acids & vitamins.
On the other hand probiotics are foods & supplements which contain a source of live bacteria that have several actions on the human body. Probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium help maintain order of gut microbiome by maintaining right acidity & preventing pathogens from populating/colonising the gut. Prebiotic & probiotics go hand in hand since probiotic & beneficial bacteria cannot thrive without prebiotic. As such reduced abundance of health promoting bacteria can cause gut imbalances.
Prebiotics encourage growth of health promoting bacteria as well as enhance their activity. Production of organic compounds such as short chain fatty acids are promoted by prebiotics. Stable sources of prebiotics are a specific type of dietary fibre since they are less sensitive to heat & age compared to polyphenols that can be impacted by cooking. It is important to note that insoluble fibre cannot be broken down by gut microbes. Therefore, please remember that not all fibres are prebiotics.
Most people in Europe & even in India do not hit daily fibre requirements since people consume less of plant based foods. This essentially means they are depriving their gut microbiome of sustenance from prebiotics. Consuming a high amount of prebiotics is important for those having diets high in processed meat, sugar & do not consume much fibre in their diet. You should aim to have 30 grams of fibre per day from plant foods including prebiotics to support your gut health. Focus on consuming a rainbow diet & get 30 colours of plant foods of different colours in your diet every week. The best prebiotics are plants since they come packed up with other phytochemicals like antioxidant polyphenols & nutrients like vitamins & minerals.
Probiotics in fermented foods improves our health by breaking down food & boosting our immunity. As we all must be aware, fermentation is a process where bacteria transforms a substance & this is what probiotic bacteria is known for. Probiotics can have beneficial health impacts if they do not settle in the gut microbiome & just pass through the gastrointestinal tract. Foods such as fermented soy, sauerkraut, kimchi & lacto fermented pickles are plant based probiotics that are possible due to action of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium(bacterias) that metabolise sugar & increases nutritional value of these foods. Fermentation is beneficial for us since it allows beneficial bacteria to enter the body. Probiotics can have anti- cancer properties especially against colon cancer. Besides, Probiotics also have the ability to lower blood pressure & improve cholesterol levels. Some metabolites produced by probiotic microbes can influence brain health and depression symptoms.
However, people who have their immune system compromised or have impaired immune system may face side effects from consuming probiotics such as gas, nausea, constipation & infections.
I am sure you will now understand the benefits of having pre & probiotics in your diet. We are listing herein below foods rich pre & probiotics.
Prebiotics foods: Apple, Barley, Beetroot, Citrus, Cranberries, Garlic, Blackberries, Legumes, Chicory, Oats, Mushroom, Onion, Wheat
Probiotics foods: Yoghurt, Kimchi, Milk Kefir, Sauerkraut, Kombucha
Please remember without prebiotics, probiotics can’t thrive because eating probiotic foods along with prebiotic fibres helps ensure the safe delivery of healthy bacteria to your gut.
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