I’ve written here from time to time about probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are foods or supplements that deliver live, beneficial
gut bacteria
bacteria to the human gut, helping to support digestive health by increasing the amount of good bacteria. Prebiotics (such as EpiCor plus a variety of fruits and vegetables) contain natural matter that help feed the beneficial bacteria already in the gut, helping to promote growth of that bacteria.
As we all know by now (right?!) a healthy amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut determines a great portion of how well your immune system functions. The health site Vitabase gives a good overview :
“The role of probiotics in immune function has been studied for decades. Scientists were curious as to why our bodies would strike up such a close relationship with these bugs. The most crucial role probiotics seem to play for humans is that of training the immune system. Most people don’t know that 60-70% of their immune system is located in the gut as a vast network of lymph tissue referred to as GALT (gut associated lymphatic tissue). The probiotics in our gut are constantly interfacing with the GALT and essentially priming the immune system for contact with other bacteria. They serve as a way for the body to learn how to respond to bacteria without actually having to suffer an infection. This becomes particularly important in young children whose immune system is in constant state of development until about age 7.”
One question I have on prebiotics vs. probiotics: Is one better than the other? One BBC piece does a head to head comparison of cowboy “poo” to try to find a winner. And prebiotics won. This study probably won’t find its way to the New England Journal of Medicine, but it’s fun to read. Another source sizes up the two , and concludes both could be beneficial in certain health circumstances. With probiotics, one issue is that it is difficult to know if most or even a majority of the live bacteria in a delivery system (yogurt, pills/capsules, etc.) actually make it to the gut. A lot of bacteria can get destroyed during processing, shipping and shelf time. So you may be spending money for additional bacteria that are not bioactive anymore.
I’ve written here from time to time about probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are foods or supplements that deliver live, beneficial
bacteria to the human gut, helping to support digestive health by increasing the amount of good bacteria. Prebiotics (such as EpiCor plus a variety of fruits and vegetables) contain natural matter that help feed the beneficial bacteria already in the gut, helping to promote growth of that bacteria.
As we all know by now (right?!) a healthy amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut determines a great portion of how well your immune system functions. The health site Vitabase gives a good overview :
“The role of probiotics in immune function has been studied for decades. Scientists were curious as to why our bodies would strike up such a close relationship with these bugs. The most crucial role probiotics seem to play for humans is that of training the immune system. Most people don’t know that 60-70% of their immune system is located in the gut as a vast network of lymph tissue referred to as GALT (gut associated lymphatic tissue). The probiotics in our gut are constantly interfacing with the GALT and essentially priming the immune system for contact with other bacteria. They serve as a way for the body to learn how to respond to bacteria without actually having to suffer an infection. This becomes particularly important in young children whose immune system is in constant state of development until about age 7.”One question I have on prebiotics vs. probiotics: Is one better than the other? One BBC piece does a head to head comparison of cowboy “poo” to try to find a winner. And prebiotics won. This study probably won’t find its way to the New England Journal of Medicine, but it’s fun to read. Another source sizes up the two , and concludes both could be beneficial in certain health circumstances. With probiotics, one issue is that it is difficult to know if most or even a majority of the live bacteria in a delivery system (yogurt, pills/capsules, etc.) actually make it to the gut. A lot of bacteria can get destroyed during processing, shipping and shelf time. So you may be spending money for additional bacteria that are not bioactive anymore.