Prebiotics and Probiotics

Kids & Company Blog

Pre or Probiotics that is the Question

Lately the media has been bombarding us with the ongoing health benefits of probiotics – but what really are probiotics? Why are they so good for us? Probiotics are a type of live bacteria that are naturally present in our gut. You might be wondering why there is such a craze over probiotics – isn’t bacteria bad? Probiotics are actually a type of “good” or beneficial bacteria. Probiotics are live microorganisms that live inside your gastrointestinal tract. They aid in digestion by essentially cleaning out the gut to keeping everything moving along.
These good bacteria act as a little army against nasty pathogens such as bad bacteria, and viruses. When you eat probiotics, you are adding to the existing defense system that already exists in your gut. The perfect balance between good and bad bacteria is what helps make our tummies healthy. Consuming adequate probiotics have many suggested benefits to our bodies such as relieving constipation and strengthening our immune systems.

You may have also heard about the importance of prebiotics which is simply food for the probiotics. Without prebiotics, probiotics cannot do their job! Prebiotics are a type of plant fiber that already lives inside the large intestine. The more food, or prebiotics, that probiotics have to eat, the more efficiently these live bacteria work and the healthier your gut will be. Since fiber is the source of prebiotics, foods that are high in fiber are typically high in prebiotics.

A combination of probiotics and prebiotics keep the good bacteria in our digestive system working well...literally well fed! It is important to eat a variety of foods that contain both of these components because a healthy, balanced diet can provide adequate prebiotics and probiotics.

Many of your kiddies favourite Kidco Kitchen recipes contain great probiotics that you can try at home! The most common food source of probiotics is yogurt. Your children LOVE our wonderful weekly fruit smoothies and by adding banana to your smoothie you are adding a great source of prebiotics...so enjoy your banana smoothie for double the health benefits and double the fun!!!