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Probiotics and Prebiotics - How They Keep Us Healthy
Prebiotics and probiotics go hand in hand to promote good health. Together they produce good bacteria and get rid of bad bacteria in your digestive tract. Let's find out what they are, how they work and most importantly how we get them from the foods we eat.
Our digestive tracts contain millions of bacteria and there are as many as 400 different kinds. Not all bacteria are good for us and the lack of healthy bacteria can result in both short and long term health problems. Antibiotics, poor nutrition, and stress are some of the circumstances that kill healthy bacteria. Diarrhea, yeast infections, irritable bowel syndrome and other ailments can be the result.
Probiotic bacteria is bacteria that is friendly to people. It is found in fermented food, the most common source being yogurt and yogurt drinks. Prebiotics, on the other hand, are not actually bacteria at all; they are the food for friendly bacteria. Probiotic bacteria do not actually grow well in the human gut and by itself it is easily eliminated, so when we eat foods that contain prebiotics we are helping the healthy bacteria to flourish. Think of the analogy of a plant which will die without water. In the same way, prebiotics are essential to the life of probiotics.
Prebiotics come from fibres found in some kinds of food. These fibres don't get digested and stay in the gut where they are the food that stimulates the growth of probiotic bacteria. Some of the foods that contain prebiotics include: onions, garlic, bananas, asparagus, tomatoes, honey, oatmeal, barley and other whole grains and many kinds of beans. Although prebiotics occur naturally in many foods, now that their importance has been recognized, they are being added to many foods and health drinks. You can also purchase them as nutritional supplements in health food stores.
But you really don't need to buy supplements, instead you can make things like a yogurt and banana smoothie. Just blend yogurt, milk, honey and a sliced banana and you have a great combination of probiotics and prebiotics. To add even more health value, add a spoonful of bran or flax.
Studies suggest that probiotics relieve chronic diarrhea and some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Ongoing research is investigating the role of foods such as yogurt in lowering cholesterol. Prebiotics appear to assist in the absorption of calcium, the production of vitamin K (an immune system booster), and may lower the risk of colon cancer. Perhaps the most interesting discovery is that breast milk contains many prebiotics which would give breast fed babies additional protection to their immune systems and promote the production of good bacteria. Prebiotics are now being added to some brands of baby formula.
There's no doubt that both probiotics and prebiotics are important dietary requirements and you will likely start to see them listed more and more often on nutritional labels. With a minimum of effort we can make sure that our diet contains the combination of both these elements to improve and maintain good health.
Pat Lockhart
Pat Lockhart is the author and publisher of the website: SuperCookbooks, a comprehensive cookbook resource. SuperCookbooks includes a cookbook directory, information about how to create your own cookbook, a weekly featured recipe, and articles and reviews. Currently we are collecting recipes for an exciting project: The Valley Cookbook, featuring healthy, locally grown produce of the Okanagan region of BC, Canada. We welcome submissions of recipes for this and other cookbooks.
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