What Are Prebiotics and Probiotics – The Basics Explained

Prebiotics and Probiotics are bacteria that reside in your intestinal tract. Some are good while some are undesirable. Prebiotics feed to beneficial bacteria in your system, but are not digestible. Probiotics are desirable and as we age, many of us need help in this area. The balance of the two promote “regularity”.  Poor diet can promote the need for these in younger adults as well.

The chemically active ingredient in prebiotics is oligosaccharides, and a natural source would be legumes, fruits, and whole grains. Yogurt products produced with  bifidobacteria have oligosaccharides.

Probiotics known as lactobacilli and are bacteria, the healthy type, normally found in fermented foods such as yogurt. You’ve all seen the TV commercials promoting yogurt especially. They can also be found in sauerkraut.

An imbalance in these 2 can promote an over abundance of yeast in the system, diabetes promotes yeast growth . When a person is taking antibiotics,  say for an infection, the #  of healthy microorganisms can be significantly reduced, and be replaced by pathogenic organisms, the antibiotics will not kill off the excess yeast. When our body has an over abundance of pathogenic organisms, this can cause problems which are immune system related. Examples would be chronic fatigue, colitis. or fibromyalgia.The imbalance can also affect the mouth and the skin.

These two supplements should be taken together to promote a healthy balance in your intestinal tract.  In women, it is common to take antibiotics for a yeast infection, however this may not always solve the problem, as there be a primary imbalance between the “pre and probiotics” and the yeast infection may persist. I know may women run to the local drug store for products to deal with the situation, and sometimes this is sufficient. If the condition persists, please seek the advice of a qualified physician.

Here again we have a preventative measure or measures to avoid future health challenges. A certified nutritionist may be worth visiting as well. This can be a complicated subject and my goal was just to provide basic  information what are Prebiotics and Probiotics.

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