At the Marc Bony Chiropractic Center in Mataró, we understand the importance of optimal digestive health. Discover how probiotics and prebiotics can improve your overall well-being.
Probiotics vs. Prebiotics,
These days, they are very common topics in nutrition. However, even though they seem similar, the two play different roles in your health. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria, while prebiotics are food for these bacteria. This article explains what you need to know about both.
What Are Probiotics vs. Prebiotics?
Both prebiotics and probiotics are important for human health. However, they play different roles:
• Probiotics: These are live bacteria found in certain foods or supplements. They can provide numerous health benefits. • Prebiotics: These substances come from types of carbohydrates (mostly fiber) that humans cannot digest. Beneficial gut bacteria feed on this fiber. Gut bacteria, collectively known as the gut flora, perform many important functions in the body. Eating both probiotics and prebiotics in balanced amounts can help ensure you have the right balance of these bacteria, which should improve your health.
Conclusion: Probiotics are beneficial bacteria found in certain foods or supplements. Prebiotics are types of fiber that serve as food for the beneficial bacteria in the digestive system.
Why is gut flora beneficial?
The beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract help protect you from harmful bacteria, yeast, and parasites. They also send signals to your immune system and help regulate inflammation.
In addition, some of your gut bacteria help digest or convert nutrients such as vitamin K, sugars, fiber, amino acids, short-chain fatty acids, and more. Without these beneficial bacteria, your body would be unable to extract some of these nutrients from food.
The gut microbiota also provides certain nutrients that intestinal cells need to form a strong barrier to prevent the entry of unwanted viruses and bacteria. This helps combat various types of inflammation, including some types of cancer. Conclusion: The gut microbiota assists in a variety of biological functions. It also provides important nutrition for the cells lining the digestive tract.
How Does Diet Affect the Gut Microbiota?
The food you eat plays an important role in the balance between good and bad gut bacteria. For example, a diet high in sugar and fat has a negative effect on gut bacteria, allowing harmful bacterial species to overgrow.
Once harmful bacteria are regularly fed, they are able to grow faster and colonize more easily, with few beneficial bacteria left to prevent the harmful ones from growing.
Harmful bacteria can also cause you to absorb more calories than people with a healthy balance of gut bacteria, who tend to be thinner.
In addition, foods treated with pesticides such as The Roundup may have negative effects on gut bacteria. However, more research is needed in this area. Studies have also shown that antibiotics can cause permanent changes in certain types of bacteria, especially if taken during childhood and adolescence.
Because the antibiotic use practices It is so widespread that researchers are studying how these factors might cause health problems in people later in life.
Conclusion: The gut bacteria are affected by the foods you eat. Chemical residues and antibiotics also disrupt the gut bacteria.
Which foods contain prebiotics? Before you head out to buy expensive prebiotic supplements, remember that many foods contain them naturally.
This is because prebiotics are types of fiber found in vegetables, fruits, and legumes. This type of fiber cannot be digested by humans, but the good bacteria in the gut can digest it. Foods that are high in prebiotic fiber include:
• Legumes, beans, and peas • Oats. • Bananas. • Berries. • Tupinambo or Jerusalem artichoke (it has nothing to do with artichokes) • Asparagus. • Dandelion. • Garlic. • Leeks. • Onions.
One of the things your gut flora does is Prebiotic fiber is converted into a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate.
Butyrate has been extensively studied, and it has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects inside the colon.
It can also influence gene expression, block the growth of cancer cells, and help provide fuel to healthy cells so they can grow and divide normally.
Conclusion: Prebiotics are types of fiber that humans cannot digest, but their gut flora can. These types of fiber provide nutrients to the bacteria that support healthy digestion and immune function.
Which foods contain probiotics?
There are also many foods that contain probiotics—which naturally contain beneficial bacteria—such as yogurt. High-quality plain yogurt with live cultures can be a fantastic addition to your diet if you want to incorporate beneficial bacteria into your diet.
Fermented foods are another great option, as they contain beneficial bacteria that thrive on the naturally occurring sugars or fiber in the food.
Examples of fermented foods: • Sauerkraut. • Kimchi. • Kombucha tea. • Kefir (dairy-based or non-dairy). • Certain types of pickles (unpasteurized). • Other vegetables (pickles) preserved in vinegar (unpasteurized).
If you plan to eat fermented foods for their probiotic benefits, make sure they are not pasteurized, as this process kills the beneficial bacteria.
Some of these foods can also be considered synbiotic, since they contain both beneficial bacteria and a prebiotic source of fiber for the bacteria to feed on. Examples of synbiotic foods include cabbage in sauerkraut and yogurt with honey.
Conclusion: Probiotic foods naturally contain beneficial bacteria. Many of these foods can be made at home or purchased at a health food store.
What about probiotics in supplements?
Probiotic supplements come in the form of tablets, capsules, or liquids that contain live beneficial bacteria. They are very popular and easy to find; however, Not all of them are worth it. Not all of them contain the same types of bacteria or the same concentrations. Generally, they also don't include the fiber sources that can feed the beneficial bacteria.
Some probiotic supplements are designed to deliver the bacteria all the way to the large intestine for greater effectiveness, while others are unlikely to survive the stomach acid.
There are people who should not take a probiotic, or who may experience worsening symptoms if they do, such as those with bacterial overgrowth in the gut (ISOMED) or people who are sensitive to the ingredients in supplements. The right strains of probiotics can be incredibly beneficial when used by the right person. But if you don’t know which ones to take, it can be confusing—unless you’ve been tested to determine which types of bacteria you need, the ones in supplements might not be enough. (See the Guide below.)
Probiotic supplements usually contain only a few specific types of bacteria. Depending on your symptoms, these may or may not be the types of bacteria you need.
On the other hand, probiotic foods may contain several hundred different types of bacteria that work together to influence the balance between good and bad bacteria.
As with other supplements, it is advisable to consult a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about probiotics.
Conclusion: Probiotic supplements are designed to provide very specific strains of bacteria for the human gut. However, not all probiotic supplements are of the same quality or contain the same amount of bacteria.
Share this message with your family. Maintaining a balanced gut flora is important for many aspects of your health. To do this, eating plenty of prebiotic and probiotic foods will help you achieve the best possible balance between good and bad gut bacteria.
You may also want to try probiotic supplements, but be sure to consult a qualified healthcare professional first. I often recommend that my patients read this guide: [btn text=»GUIDE» tcolor=#FFF thovercolor=#CCC link=»http://yourdoctorwithin.com/guia-para-comprar-probioticos/» target=»_blank»]
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At the end of the day, optimizing your gut flora can have significant health benefits.
[/pullquote] Source:http://authoritynutrition.com/probiotics-and-prebiotics/
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