益生菌需要益生元来为您提供健康益处

Probiotics need prebiotics to provide you health benefits

Do you know how probiotics benefit your health? You may think they work as vitamins or other nutrients. That is not the case. Probiotics in a supplement work only when they grow on prebiotics in your intestines – the food they eat to grow themselves and help your health.

So what are probiotics? They are the living bacteria that live in our intestinal tracts and they help digest food and promote immune functions. When probiotics use and ferment prebiotics, they produce some small compounds such as short chain fatty acids like butyric acid, protect the intestinal lining, balance hormones, and help eliminate waste materials.  Butyric by itself may help prevent colon cancer.

Prebiotics are water soluble macro-molecules and as much as 90% digested prebiotics is eliminated from the small intestine.
So what types of prebiotics we need?

There are two primary prebiotics we need, namely, inulin and oligofructose. There are two sides to your colon, one side prefers inulin and the other prefers oligofructose. These two prebiotics maximize the nourishment of your internal ecosystem. They help to multiply beneficial bacteria (probiotics) and fight gut dysbiosis which can cause problems including indigestion, bloating and other symptoms. A prebiotic supplement should provide both.

Prebiotics are present abundantly in some foods including garlic, tuber vegetables or root vegetables, artichokes, yacon, endives, , dandelion roots, acacia gum, leeks, psyllium husks, banana, whole grain wheat, potatoes, yam, chicory roots, dahlia, murnong, sweet potatoes, asparagus, agave, jicama, cassava, shallots and onions.

Prebiotics are water soluble fibers. But that does not mean water insoluble fibers are useless. Actually insoluble fibers are important in promoting bowel movement and help push waste materials out of your system quickly.