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Probiotics and Prebiotics: What’s Really Important

1. Probiotics and prebiotics are a hot topic these days. You’ve likely seen many ads on
2. television and online for supplements and foods that promise to deliver helpful bacteria and their
3. benefits, but there are things you should know before purchasing these products. Your large
4. intestine contains 100 trillion “good” bacteria that are essential to health. Called the microbiome,
5. these beneficial microbes help maintain healthy bowel function, and may help with inflammatory
6. bowel disease. Research suggests they may even play a role in regulating weight and mood.
7. Everyone starts with their own unique microbiome __ birth, and we add to these through
8. the foods we eat. Some __ the best ways to add healthful bacteria to your microbiome are yogurt
9. and kefir: be sure to look for the words “live and active cultures” __ the label, to make sure you
10. are getting live cultures. Fermented foods are just as good: beneficial microbes are the “cooks”
11. for some familiar foods. For example, they turn cabbage into sauerkraut, cucumbers into sour
12. pickles, soybeans into miso, and sweetened tea into kombucha. When the products are
13. pasteurized — as most packaged fermented foods — the microbes die. The best solution is to
14. buy from Delis where they do the pickling themselves, or natural food stores that carry fermented
15. foods. You can also make your own; you can find clear and easy instructions online.
16. There are also probiotic supplements on the market, of course. But it’s not easy to sift
17. through them and find exactly what you need. Usually, these products contain just a few bacterial
18. strains, compared with 3,000 or so strains in your gut. And not all gut bacteria are alike. Specific
19. bacterium play specific roles in the body, so if you’re trying to treat a specific condition, like
20. irritable bowel syndrome or diarrhea, you need to find the right ones with documented benefits
21. for that condition. In 2020, the American Gastroenterological Association released guidelines for
22. the use of probiotics. Experts point out that good evidence for taking probiotic supplements exists
23. for only a handful of conditions. For general health, look for brands that contain both Lactobacillus
24. and Bifidobacterium.
25. To help your body produce healthy gut bacteria, include plenty of foods rich in insoluble
26. fiber in your diet. You’ll find them in whole-grain products such as oatmeal and whole-grain
27. breads, as well as in vegetables like asparagus, leeks, onions, and garlic, and starchy vegetables
28. like sweet potatoes and corn. Beans, lentils, and peas are also good sources. Limit sugar,
29. saturated fat, and processed foods. These can deplete the good bacteria in the gut. As always,
30. try to stick with whole, unprocessed foods. For more on how to protect your digestive health,
31. check out Making Sense of Vitamins and Minerals, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical
32. School.

(Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/are-you-getting-essential-nutrients-from-your-diet/ - text especially adapted for this test).