Your intestinal tract contains many colonies of healthy bacteria, called its normal flora. According to the Harvard Medical School, about 100 trillion of these microorganisms from 500 different species live in your intestines if you are healthy. Consuming a diet rich in prebiotics and probiotics may benefit your digestive tract and help you avoid or recover from disorders such as diarrhea. Consult your doctor or a dietitian to determine if prebiotic and probiotics diets are appropriate for you.
Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live bacteria similar or identical to those that live in a healthy, normal intestinal tract. Prebiotics are nutrients that are indigestible for humans but are digested by and provide energy for intestinal bacteria. Consuming a diet rich in both probiotics and prebiotics is an excellent strategy to keep your digestive tract functioning well. It may also be very helpful when you experience a disorder such as diarrhea, since this often signals an overgrowth in your intestine of other, pathogenic bacteria consumed with food.
Probiotics
Any food that contains live cultures of healthy bacteria is a probiotic food. Common examples include unpasteurized yogurt and cheese. Fermented cabbage dishes such as sauerkraut or kimchi, a spicy Korean cabbage, are also rich in live, healthy bacteria. Some Asian dishes made from fermented soybeans are also probiotic foods. Examples include natto, whole soybeans incubated with bacteria, miso, a fermented paste made from soybeans, and tempeh, a fermented, Indonesian soybean cake. To preserve the live bacterial cultures, do not heat these foods directly; instead, consume the probiotics at room temperature or warm them gently by adding to other preheated foods.
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are dietary ingredients that you cannot digest. However, prebiotics support the growth of probiotic bacteria in your intestinal tract and are actually fermented there by these bacteria. Inulin is a type of dietary fiber that is a good prebiotic. It is a component of any plant-derived food that contains fructan. Good sources include asparagus, leeks, onions, artichokes, bananas and garlic. In addition, many commercially prepared breads and beverages are fortified with other prebiotics such as polydextrose and arabinoglactan, which are additional sources of nutrients for intestinal bacteria.
Recommendations and Precautions
Dietary supplements containing either prebiotics or probiotics are also available from health food stores, in tablets or capsules. These supplements are generally considered safe. Add probiotic and prebiotic foods or supplements to your diet gradually, as they may cause some initial gas or bloating. Consult your doctor or other health care provider to discuss use of prebiotics and probiotics before adding them to your regular diet.
References
- Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology: The Normal Bacterial Flora of Humans
- Harvard Medical School: Health Benefits of Taking Probiotics
- The Conscious Life: Top Probiotic Foods You Are Not Eating
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Diarrhea
- Prebiotic Canada: Prebiotic Fibre
- FoodInsight.org: Functional Foods Fact Sheet: Probiotics and Prebiotics
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