Prebiotics: Are they necessary?

In our sea moss article, I promised to talk about prebiotics and probiotics. You may be thinking, “If I eat healthy, why should I add more supplements? Isn’t food medicine enough?” Well, think of it this way; if you plant a seed and water it or maybe even give it plant food from a store, do you think it could grow and flourish well on its own with only those two aspects? No, it wouldn’t. The healthy growth of the plant would require sunlight, worms, ants, fertilisers and microorganisms that maintain plant growth and health. Our body is the same, healthy diet and exercise is important but to reap the benefits of a complete healthy lifestyle, we’ll need a little extra “oomph”. 

Let’s talk about prebiotics first. Remember that fertiliser we mentioned? Prebiotics are specialised plant fibres (carbohydrates) that act like fertilisers for the healthy bacteria in our gut; they stimulate the growth and activity of these microorganisms. Prebiotics are usually found in fruits, grains and vegetables; our body doesn’t digest these carbohydrates and as such they become food for the healthy bacteria as it passes through our digestive tract. Labels on many foods won’t particularly have the word prebiotic on them, instead looks for ingredients like:

• Galactooligosaccharides
• Fructooligosaccharides
• Oligofructose
• Chicory fibre
• Inulin

Next, I’ll talk about the best sources of prebiotics if you want to stay away from packages and processed *ish!