Happy Hump Day! Alright you're halfway to the weekend. Congrats for making it this far. Time to take some questions from our fans. I get asked a million questions by people on a regular basis, that I thought I'd dedicated Wednesdays to answering some of those questions. So if you have a question, I'm committed to finding an answer for you. Our first question for What's Up Wednesday is What's Up With Prebiotics & Probiotics? Have you ever seen the show Good Eats with Alton Brown? If so, then you know how Alton pulls a fancy schmancy food scientist out of his pocket like a magician pulls rabbits. All with the intent of explaining the latest and greatest food phenomena in a technical manner. Well guess what? I have my own food scientist in my magic hat and her name is Liisa. Just so happens, Liisa is part of my inner circle and she is also an EMPOWER client. She holds a BS and a MS in food science and in my opinion has a pretty cool job. So check out her easy to digest explanation of Prebiotic & Probiotic-
You’ve heard the terms ‘prebiotic’ and ‘probiotic’ lately in the media and on food labels. What’s the difference and why the hype?
Our intestinal tracts are filled with microorganisms, mostly bacteria. They are important to aid in digestion and fight off the ‘bad’ bacteria that we are exposed to through our diets and the environment. Keeping our intenstinal microflora healthy is in essence why prebiotics and probiotics are important to us.
PRObiotics are when we consume healthy organisms via food or supplements. Any yogurt with the ‘live and active cultures’ symbol is a great source. Ones such as Activia that Jamie Lee Curtis advertises, are further supplemented with organisms beyond what is naturally occurring as part of the yogurt fermentation process. Many fermented foods are great sources of probiotics: kefir, sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, pickles, tempeh, and kombucha tea. Alternatively there are many supplements available and more frequently doctors prescribing antibiotics also recommend a probiotic supplement. These usually contain species of Lactobacilli and/or Bifidobacteria.
PREbiotics are non digestible carbohydrates that stimulate the growth of selected organisms within the healthy microflora – simply they are ‘food’ for the good organisms in our intestinal tract. Ingredients considered prebiotics include inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), or polydextrose. These are types of fiber which are added to foods in order to make a prebiotic claim on the label. Naturally occurring sources include chicory root, agave, and Jerusalem artichoke, bananas, onions, and oats.
It’s healthy to include pre and probiotics into our diets to help maintain a well balanced intestinal tract.
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So there you have it! Mystery SOLVED- Thank you Liisa :)