In our digestive system, we have good bacteria and bad bacteria; if there is an excess of bad bacteria, then we will face several health issues. So, it is necessary to maintain the balance between these two bacteria. The good bacteria that we have used in this stanza are called probiotics, and they need food to survive in our intestines colon; these fiber-rich foods are termed prebiotics. Now, the question arises: is it safe to consume prebiotics and probiotics together? Well, if you are a health freak and eager to keep information about a healthy life, then step down below to get the answer to the above-said question.
Prebiotics- At A Glance
You must have heard about fibers present in your foods, which are responsible for your better digestion and bowel movement. Well, similar to that, prebiotics are also a non-digestible substance that becomes a great food for your healthy gut bacteria. Prebiotics are also efficient in increasing the activity of PRO bacteria and promoting their health beneficiary functions.
Prebiotics are primarily effective in improving your metabolism, calcium absorption, and bone density. So, make sure you are eating foods like apples, garlic, legumes, and bananas that are rich in prebiotics and regulate your blood sugar and insulin resistance as well.
An Overview Of Probiotics
Where prebiotics are effective in promoting the growth of healthy bacteria in your gut, probiotics help you maintain those bacteria in your gut. When you take foods rich in probiotics, the live micro-organisms in it become part of your gut’s microflora or healthy bacterium. This leads to better metabolism, nutrition, and immune system.
Taking probiotics can improve your immune system and prevent any future risks of getting bowel diseases. Probiotic microorganisms exhibit antihypercholesterolemic and antihypertensive properties, which are helpful in balancing your lactose intolerance and healthy microbes. If you want to add foods filled with probiotics to your diet, make sure you are taking yogurt, cottage cheese, and buttermilk.
Taking Prebiotics And Probiotics Simultaneously
If you are wondering about the effects of taking prebiotics and probiotics at the same time, it’s completely safe to take both. It can even benefit you by improving your metabolism and immune system along with better digestion as well. When you take both of these at the same time, it is called microbiome therapy and is beneficial for your health in every way.
Possible Effects
When you start taking foods rich in prebiotic and probiotic foods at the same time, you are basically reengineering your microbiome and making it active for better immunity and metabolism. Prebiotics are undigestible substances that become food for your existing healthy bacteria, and probiotics are organisms in themselves and can promote your immunity and gut health.
There is a possibility that you get gas, bloating, or discomfort during digestion, as your gut bacteria need time to get used to the supplement. When your gut bacteria adapts to the prebiotics and probiotics, it starts to give you positive results as well.
Benefits Of Microbiome Therapy
Microbiome therapy has some very specific benefits related to your gut health and microflora. Taking both prebiotics and probiotics at the same time can help you maintain a high amount of healthy bacteria in your gut. Not only that, but the presence of those healthy bacteria can help you prevent future risks of colon cancer, as it improves bowel movement and maintains colon health.
Nowadays, people eat inflammatory foods and take antibiotics, which can disrupt the diversity of your gut microbiome. Taking prebiotics and probiotics at the same time can help you maintain that healthy microbial balance and increase your immunity.
Other Activities To Elevate The Effects Of Microbiome Therapy
When it comes to enhancing your gut health along with taking microbiome therapy, there are other things that can help you a lot. Things like high dietary fibers and fermented foods will provide the necessary microbes essential for your gut health and microbiome. Doing exercise will help you speed up your metabolism and immunity at the same time. Anyway, here are all the things and activities you can choose to add to your therapy:
Diversify Your Dietary Choices
When it comes to people who follow a couple of diets for a long time, it can lead them to become deficient in many nutrients. You can diversify your dietary choices to elevate your gut health and increase your overall nutrition. This will not only provide you with essential vitamins and minerals but also improve your gut health. Make sure you are eating at least 30 varieties of plant-based foods in a week to maintain a healthy gut and bowel movement.
Choose Water Over Other Drinks
You must have heard about water and its benefits in digesting your food. If not, water helps your gut to break down food and improves digestion while supplying all the nutrients to your cells. You must choose water over all other beverages, as they have added sugar along with any nutrients, which increases your sugar levels. With water, you’ll get better digestion and softened stools.
Prioritize Chewing Over Drinking The Nutrients
When you drink your nutrients through protein shakes or vitamin syrups, it simply doesn’t work your gut at all. This leads to improper gut health and can lead to weaker immunity. On the other hand, chewing your foods and getting nutrition from them leads your gut and bacteria to work and improves microbial balance. Not only that, chewing releases healthy enzymes in your mouth in your saliva, which is great for your guts.
Summing Up
Prebiotics and probiotics are two different things but can work effectively if you take them at the same time. In addition, there is no particular time to take them; you can take your supplementation at any time, but if you eat them after some time of your meal, it may give better results. Make sure you are doing all the activities mentioned above along with your microbiome therapy, as they will only add to its benefits.
