Difference Between Prebiotics and Probiotics with Your Health

Many people get confused about prebiotics and probiotics. We are going to lead you into the world of prebiotics and probiotics and the difference they make for your health. 

Prebiotics are non-digestible fiber that gets fermented in the gut. While probiotics are live bacteria in your gut that feeds on prebiotics.

So what’s the difference? Prebiotics are essentially food for probiotics. Think of it this way: we eat foods with prebiotics, and probiotics eat the prebiotics.

They work together to restore friendly flora, providing plethora of other health benefits like reducing the risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And they also are beneficial for brain health, immunity, longevity, and help with acne and eczema.

Probiotics have risen over the years as a healthful staple. People are recognizing the importance of taking a daily probiotic to improve their gut health for everything from digestive to immune support. But what are these prebiotics that has everyone buzzing, lately? In health-conscious circles prebiotics have been a “thing” for a while but they haven’t quite gotten the same amount of attention as probiotics, until recently. We wanted to add to this conversation and offer some insight to help you understand the difference between prebiotics and probiotics and why BOTH should be added to your regular health regime.

Before we show the differences we are going to touch base on why taking both is beneficial. In short, they both complement each other exceptionally well in that prebiotics help probiotics to do their job in our gut, and then some. Our gut really is our second brain and the very root of our immune system. When our digestive system is out of balance not only is our immunity impaired but we just feel off, experiencing everything from fatigue to brain fog, and even emotional distress. Physically, a distressed digestive tract can cause uncomfortable symptoms such as bloating, gassiness, irritable bowels, and nausea. Taking a prebiotic and a probiotic has been known to help alleviate (if not eliminate) many of these uncomfortable issues by balancing out the gut environment and supporting the vitality of our microbiome.

Prebiotics

Like we said earlier Prebiotics are non-digestible fiber that gets fermented in the gut. Prebiotics feed the good bacteria in your gut to help nourish and maintain a strong healthy environment. Prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are found naturally in plant whole foods such as:

    Legumes

    Cabbage

    Garlic

    Onions

    Leeks

    Carrots

    Asparagus

    Artichokes

    Radishes

    Chicory root (contains inulin), we recommend you get our coffee

    Turmeric

    Cinnamon we recommend you get our coffee.

    Cocoa

    Dandelion Greens we recommend you get our Chibtox Plus or Normal.

Probiotics

Probiotics are live bacteria in our gut that feeds on prebiotics. Avariety of factors including flawed food sources, water contamination, emotional distress, and taking medications and antibiotics can greatly disrupt our gut microbiome; throwing it way out of whack and causing all kinds of health-related issues, not to mention drastically lowering our immune system. Probiotics supply our gut with much-needed support to restore and sustain proper digestive and immune function, helping us to feel our best!

Side Note: Taking antibiotics can destroy friendly gut bacteria, which is why it’s extremely important to replenish with a healthy dose of both pre and probiotics for increased healing and recovery.

Almost everywhere we look these days, health food markets are stocking probiotic-friendly foods. There are a ton of fermented food and beverage sources rich in probiotics. But beware of excess sugars and artificial ingredients in some of these foods as they can inhibit potency and efficacy. Some common food and drink probiotic sources are:

    Kombucha

    Kefir

    Kefir Soda

    Sauerkraut

    Pickles

    Miso

    Tempeh

    Sourdough

    Yogurt

    Kimchi

    Brine-cured Olives

Supplementing with Prebiotics and Probiotics

Of course, we encourage obtaining your nutrients through high-quality food sources but they may not provide the amount needed to truly balance out your gut flora. At Chibtox tea  and wellness we take the power of superfoods and create premium-quality supplement products that retain (if not increase) the nutrient value for maximum absorption and efficacy within the body.