How to Add Prebiotics and Probiotics to Your Diet

The word bacteria can carry quite the stigma, especially in today’s current climate of widespread illness and fear of germs. While some bacteria are harmful, it’s easy to forget your body is full of good bacteria that helps carry out several important functions. Maintaining a balance between good and bad bacteria is key, and eating foods with prebiotics and probiotics is one way to achieve this.

Gut health and your microbiome

In the human body, your microbiome is a collection of both good and bad microbes – bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa  – living in and on your body. An estimated 100 trillion microorganisms and around 1,000 different species make up the microbiome.

Your digestive tract is full of gut bacteria, which play an important role in food digestion. They also help fight inflammation and send signals to your immune system. While many people associate good bacteria and other microbes with your gut, they also live in the mouth, vagina, skin, lungs and urinary tract. 

Here are some of the more common types of bacteria found in the digestive tract:

• Bacteroides
• Bifidobacterium
• Clostridium
• Firmicutes
• Lactobacillus
• Peptostreptococcus
• Prevotella
• Ruminococcus

Most microbes are symbiotic, meaning your body and microbes enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship. However, some microbes are pathogenic, meaning they promote diseases and infections.

In most people, this relationship works seamlessly as the good and bad microbes balance each other out. Certain controllable factors, such as diet, alcohol or antibiotics, and uncontrollable factors such as certain illnesses, can affect this balance.

The difference between prebiotic and probiotic

In short, probiotics are live organisms made up of good bacteria. Prebiotics help probiotics grow and thrive. The two are dependent on each other, as probiotics will die off without assistance from prebiotics.

Probiotics

When your microbiome is disrupted, eating foods high in probiotics can help promote symbiosis. 

You can find probiotics in foods or in dietary supplements. To be considered a probiotic, microbes must be isolated from a human and cultured in a lab so they can survive your digestive tract once eaten. Once probiotics reach the colon, they feed on prebiotics to survive and create a healthy environment for good bacteria. 

Prebiotics

Think of prebiotics as the food source for probiotics. Prebiotics are carbohydrates in the form of dietary fiber that your digestive system can’t break down. As a result, they travel to the colon where they are then broken down by probiotics.

Probiotics contain a type of sugar called oligosaccharides which, once digested by gut bacteria, release short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are believed to provide relief to people with chronic digestive illnesses and diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Boosting your intake of probiotics can also help your body produce important nutrients. For example, probiotics synthesize biotin, folate, riboflavin and thiamine.

Foods with prebiotics

In general, high-fiber foods are loaded with prebiotics. Consider these three types of prebiotics found in foods: resistant starches, inulin and pectin.

Resistant starches: As the name suggests, the chemical makeup of foods with resistant starches can avoid digestion by amylase, a protein produced by the pancreas that breaks down carbs, in the small intestine.

Examples of resistant starches include:

• Beans (especially white beans)
• Boiled, chilled potatoes (potato salad)
• Cooked and cooled pasta
• Lentils
• Peas
• Quinoa
• Unripe bananas
• Whole grains (oats, barley)

Inulin: Not to be confused with insulin, inulin helps maintain good bacteria levels in your gut. You may see it used in dietary supplements as chicory root – the roots from this plant are rich in inulin.

Examples of inulin include:

• Alliums (garlic, leeks, onions)
• Asparagus
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Soybeans
• Unripe bananas
• Whole grains (wheat, oats)

Pectin: Ever wonder how jams are jellies are made? Fruits are high in pectin, a type of plant fiber that forms a gel when broken down. Apples are the most well-known source of pectin.

Some other examples of pectin include:

• Berries (blackberries, raspberries)
• Carrots
• Grapefruit
• Green beans
• Lemons
• Peaches
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Stone fruits (apricots, peaches)

In addition to these fruits, vegetables and grains, seeds, nuts, tea, seaweed and honey are also good sources of prebiotics.

Some food manufacturers have started adding probiotics into foods. On labels, look for galactooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharides, oligofructose, chicory fiber, or inulin.

Foods high in probiotics

Yogurt, by far, is the most popular way to add probiotics to your diet. That’s because it contains lactobacillus, a type of good bacteria responsible for breaking down carbohydrates into lactic acid. Lactic acid’s primary role is cell respiration and glucose production.

Eating yogurt is not the only way to expose yourself to probiotics. Here are other examples:

• Buttermilk
• Certain types of cheese (cheddar, feta, gouda)
• Dry cured meats
• Fermented pickles
• Kimchi (fermented cabbage)
• Kombucha (fermented tea)
• Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)
• Tempeh (fermented soybeans)

One important note regarding probiotics – when shopping for these foods, choose refrigerated versions of fermented foods. Any type of heat or processing will kill the good bacteria. For pasteurized cheeses such as American don’t contain probiotics due to the processing. Likewise, cooked cured meats lose out on beneficial bacteria.

While whole foods remain the best way to introduce prebiotics and probiotics to your diet, you’ll find many dietary supplement options at most major pharmacies and grocery stores. Talk to your primary care physician before starting any prebiotic or probiotic regime.