Do you want your gut to be happy and healthy? Then you can't get around probiotics and prebiotics. But what are they, and how do they differ? We explain why you need both, and recommend the best foods to eat.
A healthy gut needs the right bacteria
The gut, like the rest of your body, is covered with microscopic organisms: bacteria. These bacteria form an ecosystem, the gut microbiome, and play a major role in your health. After all, the healthier the microbiome, the better you feel.
The key to a healthy microbiome is to maintain the balance between the nearly 1,000 different species of bacteria in your gut. There are two ways to improve this balance: You can either help your bacteria grow by providing them with the right food (prebiotics) or add live, friendly bacteria to your diet (probiotics).
Prebiotics: food for healthy gut bacteria
Prebiotics are foods that are high in fibre and therefore promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. Many fruits and vegetables contain prebiotics, especially those with complex carbohydrates such as dietary fiber and resistant starch. These carbohydrates cannot be broken down by human cells, but are only converted through biomechanical processes involving bacteria.
The following high-fiber foods belong to your gut bacteria’s favorites: Legumes, such as beans and peas, oats, bananas, berries, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, garlic, leeks, and onions.
Prebiotics are high-fiber foods that...
- help healthy bacteria grow
- support digestion
- promote healthy/normal bowel movements
Probiotics: the "good" bacteria
Probiotics are live, healthy strains of bacteria that naturally reside in your gut (e.g. bifidobacteria) and help maintain the balance of your gut microbiome.
Like prebiotics, probiotics can be naturally found in foods. The best-known probiotic food is yogurt. The bacteria used to ferment the milk remain in the final product – and make their way to your gut.
Other examples of probiotic foods are Sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha tea, tempeh, kefir (dairy and non-dairy), pickles (unpasteurized), and pickled vegetables (unpasteurized).
Some of these foods, like kefir and sauerkraut, are even synbiotic, meaning they are both, probiotic and prebiotic!
Probiotics are healthy living bacteria, that...
To keep the healthy bacteria alive, it is important to support the intake of probiotics with prebiotics.