What is the difference between PREbiotics and PRObiotics? Our bodies are home to 100 trillion bacteria: the microbiome. A large proportion of these live in the gut, which is also known as the intestinal flora. In a healthy intestinal flora, beneficial and harmful bacteria are in balance. In this case, the inside of the intestinal wall is completely occupied by bacteria. As a result, the harmful bacteria cannot multiply because there is insufficient space and food for new bacteria. Thus, the balance is maintained.
The harmful intestinal bacteria can cause diarrhoea, infection or intestinal inflammation.
In contrast, the good gut bacteria help keep the bad gut bacteria under control; they help boost your immune system, reduce gas and improve digestion. The body also needs the good gut bacteria to synthesise certain vitamins and absorb certain nutrients.
So while prebiotics and probiotics are both good for health, the difference between prebiotics and probiotics is really what they do and where you can find them.
Prebiotics are mainly found in vegetables, fruits and grains, but also in legumes and nuts. So prebiotics are fibres, but not all fibres are prebiotics!
PRObiotics are mainly found in dairy products that contain large amounts of useful lactic acid bacteria. These bacteria, such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, survive stomach acid and therefore reach the gut.
Young Living has 2 very nice probiotic products: Life 9 contains a combination of nine friendly bacterial strains with a total of 17 billion live bacteria.
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Bifidobacterium lactis
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
- Streptococcus thermophilus
- Bifidobacterium longum
- Bifidobacterium breve
- Lactobacillus salivarius
- Lactobacillus plantarum
- Bifidobacterium bifidum
KidScents® MightyPro is a unique supplement specially formulated for children over the age of two. This dietary supplement contains more than eight billion live cultures
- lactobacillus paracasei
- lactobacillus acidophilus
- lactobacillus rhamnosus
- lactobacillus plantarum
- streptococcus thermophiles
- bifidobacterium infantis.