For years now – actually not that many – gut health inside your gastrointestinal tract (your “gut microbiome”) has been singled out as perhaps the most crucial component and determinant of your overall good health. Some might say your gut health is the 100-horsepower motor that drives your boat and potentially makes for a smoother ride for you in life, even when the waters get a little choppy.
Treat your bodies, especially your gut, with the proper care and consumption, and, who knows?, you might make those rough waters disappear as quickly as they showed up. Enter probiotics and prebiotics . . . that is, enter them into your body in the form of one type of supplement in which they work in tandem, together bringing their complementary assets to help build an optimal well of good health for you. Thus, after a pause of several months, we bring you Part 4 in our ongoing series “Supplements in Tandem.”
Probiotics & Prebiotics: Explained and Exhorted
Generally speaking, people familiar with nutritional supplements have long known about probiotics and how they go to work for us, although there has always been some question about prebiotics. As in, What are prebiotics and what’s the difference? That’s simple. Probiotics are foods and supplements that provide healthy, live bacteria, usually numbering in the billions per dose, to your intestines. Prebiotics – also in the form of food and supplements – essentially feed the healthy bacteria already present. That is, they share the same workspace and have complementary roles conducive to healthy bacteria in a world where unhealthy (i.e., “bad”) bacteria also show up posing a challenge to Your health at any given time.
Upon further study, there is actually more to the activity of these respective, similar-sounding substances than just what we described above. Probiotics don’t only send “good” bacteria into the microbiome, they also play a role in stopping bad bacteria from reproducing. They can also help restore bacterial balance to the microbiome in the wake of an illness. For good measure, research has demonstrated that probiotics can also bolster your immune system, aid in reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels, contribute to the regulation of blood sugar and insulin, and, yes, even enhance skin health.
Of course, prebiotics are there to not only help their probiotic partners by increasing their effectiveness, they also can chip in on supporting a strong immune system while also boosting mood and memory. Prebiotics even assist in the sensation of fullness after a meal, thus providing you with a built-in stop sign to overeating.
What Are Synbiotics?
The term “synbiotics” refers to combined natural-remedy forms of probiotics and prebiotics that are mixed together in one supplement. Two for one. To put it another way, by ingesting probiotics and prebiotics in tandem in one tablet or capsule, you are not only adding new and healthy microbes that are beneficial to your digestive health, you also are actively encouraging those microbes to grow and flourish.
4 Other Captivating Points about Probiotics & Prebiotics (& Synbiotics)
- How’s this for generosity? Although prebiotics actually consist of carbohydrates that your body is unable to digest, they are certainly edible for the probiotics you have also placed there. This (sort of) reciprocal process is what is known as “microbiome therapy.”
- Here’s something else pretty nifty: By feasting on prebiotics, bacteria create short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are byproducts that move throughout your body and upgrade gut function, level out blood sugar, and combat unwanted inflammation.
- Common foods that either naturally contain probiotics or often have them added during production include yogurt, kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, and pickles. Food containing prebiotics in many cases are high in fiber and include chicory root, onions, bananas, and asparagus.
- Just in case you were wondering, the protective barrier that good bacteria provide to protect your gut microbiome is the layer of mucus in you GI tract that guards against invading toxins. Icky stuff, for sure, but it’s there to help you.
The key takeaway here is that probiotics and prebiotics play significant roles in maintaining and enhancing your gut health, and they work well together when taking together as a synbiotic. Before adding probiotics and/or prebiotics to you daily supplement regimen, be sure to discuss any possible pros and cons with your personal physician or other qualified healthcare practitioner.