Last month I watched a programme called ‘How dirty can I get?’ on BBC3. The microbiologist in me was fascinated as we followed Nicky Taylor and Tim FitzHigham for 6 weeks without washing! This was an experiment into the effects of all the chemicals we use on ourselves daily. What has this got to do with food?? I hear you ask! Well, one of the studies carried out during the programme, looked at levels of ‘friendly’ bacteria in people consuming probiotics compared with people consuming a prebiotic diet.

Probiotics

Definition:

“Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host” The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization In other words, for bacteria to be considered a probiotic, it must be beneficial to humans.
Wiki: Probiotic

Sources:

Probiotic supplements
Probiotic drinks & yogurts
Pickled vegetables
Fermented bean paste
Sauerkraut
Soy sauce
Kefir (A creamy drink made of fermented cow’s milk).
Kimchi (Korean fermented dish made of vegetables heavily seasoned with garlic and chili).
Kombucha (usually made by fermenting black tea and white sugar using a special kombucha colony - Bacterium xylinum and yeast cultures).
Tempeh (Oriental food made by fermenting soybeans into a rich cake with a smoky or nutty flavour).

How do they work?

The concept is simple enough, eat/drink these friendly bacteria and eventually they will arrive in your intestine to join and enhance your resident friendly bacteria. Probiotics are claimed to prevent and control diarrhoea, lessen the effects of lactose intolerance, relieve constipation, lower cholesterol and even prevent bowel cancer, as well as stimulate the immune system.

Prebiotics

Definition:

“Prebiotics are a category of functional food, defined as: Non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improve host health” Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota: introducing the concept of prebiotics - Gibson GR, Roberfroid MB.
Wiki: Prebiotic

Sources:

Bananas,
Berries,
Asparagus,
Garlic,
Wheat, oatmeal, barley (and other whole grains), flaxseed,
Tomatoes,
Jerusalem artichoke,
Onions
Chicory,
Greens (especially dandelion greens but also spinach, collard greens, chard, kale, mustard greens, and others),
Legumes (lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, navy beans, white beans, black beans, )

How do they work?

Prebiotics are not bacteria; they are food for friendly bacteria. The best-known of these are fructooligosaccharides (FOS), a class of sugars that are indigestible by humans. FOS are derived from edible plants like Jerusalem artichokes and soybeans.

The study analysed levels of friendly bacteria in stool samples of subjects before and after a probiotic or prebiotic diet. They found evidence that a probiotic-rich diet did not increase friendly bacteria levels very much. However, there was evidence to show that maintaining a pre-biotic diet did increase the levels of friendly bacteria.

My knowledge and understanding of bacteria always discouraged me from taking probiotic products, for this reason - our friendly bacteria live in the intestine and that is where re-inforcements are required from the probiotics. But first the probiotics have to survive the hostile conditions of our acidic stomachs before they can arrive in the intestine. In reality very few would ever get that far. The companies producing the probiotics are fully aware of this flaw in their products and are researching to over come it, whether it may be the development of a super-resilient strain of friendlies or adding them to a medium capable of withstanding stomach acid.

So until they discover a way to get the friendlies where they are needed, I am going to incorporate as many prebiotic foods into my diet as possible and it can’t hurt to take probiotics too, some of them might get there!!

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