Probiotics and Prebiotics are words constantly thrown around but they are totally different things. Many people do not know what they are and what they can do to our bodies. The differences between them, their importance and how to incorporate them into the diet would be discussed in our blog today.
So what are Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body. Bacteria is typically viewed in a negative light, as something that makes you sick. However, there are two kinds of bacteria constantly in and on your body; good bacteria and bad bacteria. Probiotics are made up of good bacteria which helps keep your body healthy and working well. This good bacteria helps you in many ways, including fighting off bad bacteria when you have too much of it, helping you feel better. You can get probiotics from foods prepared by bacterial fermentation as well as supplements. Probiotic foods include yogurt, and even common fermented foods from local staples in Nigeria.
Prebiotics are compounds in food that induce the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Dietary prebiotics are typically non digestible fiber compounds that pass undigested through the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract and stimulate the growth or activity of advantageous bacteria that colonize the large bowel by acting as substrate for them
Prebiotics and probiotics both support the body in building and maintaining a healthy colony of bacteria and other microorganisms, which supports the gut and aids digestion but they shouldn’t be confused with one another.
Prebiotics and probiotics each have their own role to play in the battle for better gut health. But to clear things up, here is a simple way to differentiate
Probiotics are living strains of bacteria that add to the population of good bacteria in your digestive system while Prebiotics are specialized plant fiber that act as food for the good bacteria. This stimulates growth among the preexisting good bacteria.
So basically, probiotic foods and supplements add soldiers to your army, and prebiotics give the soldiers the support they need.
So how do you incorporate probiotics and prebiotics into your diet?
Before you start taking prebiotics and probiotics, there are a few things you should keep in mind to make sure they’re as effective as they could be. Make sure your probiotics are kept cold in the refrigerator, heat can kill them. They’re living organisms after all! You don’t have to worry about this with prebiotics.
Making a change in your diet is all you need to do to boost your prebiotic and probiotic intake. But eating the wrong things (like high-sugar and high-fat foods) can feed the bad bacteria in your gut and give them an advantage over the good guys. So what are the right foods to support better gut health? Here’s a list of food for both prebiotics and probiotics
Probiotics: to eat more probiotics, look to fermented foods and fermented dairy products such as;
1. Yoghurt
2. Garri, fermented cassava
3. Ogi/Pap, fermented corn which has different varieties, soy‐ogi (fermented corn fortified with soy beans), Ogi‐baba (fermented maize, sorghum and millet), Jero (fermented millet)
4. Kunu
5. Lafun (meal from fermented cassava)
6. Tuwo
Prebiotics: Include more prebiotics in your day by eating more fruits and vegetables such as;
1. Bananas
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Berries
5. Legumes
6. Beans
7. Peas
8. Oats
9. Apples
So take care of your gut health by including one or more of these meals into your diet today.
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REFERENCES
- Prebiotics and Probiotics, Flavia Indrio, https://www.m dpi.com/journal/nutrients
