somethings bugging me about pro's and pre's

[arwenant]

what is the difference between pro-biotic and pre-biotic?

thanks in advance

[kempie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prebiotic_(nutrit ion)

[theprof]

Prebiotics are non-digestable food ingredients that are of benefit to humans by selectively stimulating the growth and/or the activity of one or more types of bacteria in the colon.

In contrast to probiotics, which introduce exogenous bacteria into the human intestine, prebiotics stimulate the preferential growth of a limited number of bacteria already existing in the healthy intestine. Because of their structure, prebiotics are not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract. They act as soluble fibres and are digested in the colon enhancing microbial activity and stimulating the growth of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

A large intake of prebiotics may encourage the formation of gas, flatulence and intestinal discomfort.

The main dairy products enriched with prebiotics are yoghurts and yoghurt drinks, but various spreads, fresh cheeses and milk are also on the market.

The main prebiotics added to europen foods are inulin and various types of fructooligosaccharides. Both of these are found in varying quantity naturally in garlic, artichokes, chicory and onions.

It still remains debatable if prebiotics can boost the immune system of the intestine.

[theprof]

Probiotics are live microbial food supplements which benefit ther health of consumers by maintaining or improving their intestinal microbial balance.

Due to their perceived health benefits, probiotic bacteria have been increasingly used in yoghurts and fermented milk drinks for the last two decades.

The most common probiotic bacteria used are lactobacilli, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria, more commonly known as "bifidus".

There is some evidence to suggest that the combination of prebiotics and probiotics in the colon does enhance the health-promoting microbial flora. There is also growing scientific evidence to support the concept that the maintenance of healthy gut microflora may provide protection against gastrointestinal disorders, including gastrintestinal infections, inflammatory bowel disease and even cancer.

The use of probiotic bacterial cultures stimulate the growth of preferred micro-organisms, crowds out potentially harmful bacteria and reinforces the body's natural defence mechanism.

[theprof]

In common with other scientists who post on AB, I'm not the greatest admirer of Wikipedia when it comes to the veracity of some of the its articles. It seems that even it's founder Jimmy Wales, warned users not to use it as an unequivocal and truthful source fairly recently.

The article on probiotics contains a number of speculative anomalies and some of the issues raised have not been adopted or accepted by the scientific community at large.

I can only suggest that if you require further information,arwenant, post again and I'll try to get back to you.

[tracymort]

http://www.whatreallyworks.co.uk/start/article s.asp?article_ID=248