PREBIOTICS VS PROBIOTICS
Having efficient digestion is part of balancing the different aspects of your lifestyle and with so many products out there to choose from that aid digestion, it can be dizzying getting started. Two dietary aids to note are prebiotics and probiotics which are both beneficial to the body’s digestion but they work in different ways.
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for the body. We may associate bacteria with things that cause diseases, but these germs are helpful to us and our body is full of them. A 2016 study at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that our total cell count is 56% bacteria compared with earlier estimates of 90% and most of these microbes are found in the gut!
On the other hand, prebiotics are special plant fibers that help healthy bacteria grow in the gut. Essentially, they are a source of food for the good bacteria in our gut.
Some foods high in prebiotics are:
Legumes, beans, peas
Oats
Bananas
Berries
Asparagus
Dandelion greens
Garlic
Leeks
Onions
Many types of foods can be classified as probiotics but they usually come from two different groups and have their own benefits. These groups may look familiar; lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, the former being more well known.
Lactobacillus is the most common probiotic and it is found in yogurt and other fermented foods. It may help people who cannot digest lactose. Bifidobacterium is found in some dairy products and may help symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
Types of probiotic foods are:
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Kombucha tea
Kefir (dairy and non dairy)
Pickles and pickled vegetables (unpasteurized)
*A helpful tip: Pasteurization process kills the bacteria that we need.
Good gut bacteria turn prebiotic into short chain fatty acid which is the main nutrient source of the cells lining the colon. These cells form a strong barrier that keep out viruses, bacteria and other harmful substances. On the other hand probiotics help send food through the gut by affecting nerves that control peristalsis, the movement of the digestive tract. Common conditions they are used to treat are:
IBS
Inflammatory bowel disease
Infectious diarrhea
Diarrhea caused by antibiotics
If you have faced digestive issues or want to make digestion a bit more efficient overall, consider adding in both prebiotics and probiotics and see what changes occur. You may feel 10x better when your digestion is optimized! Below is a sample grocery list that would complement the probiotics and prebiotics listed above. Rule of thumb is to stick with whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and lean meat products and limit the amount of products from the aisles in your grocery store.
