What Are Prebiotics?

“Remember that just because you’re not sick it doesn’t mean you’re healthy.” - Author unkown

First we must understand what probiotics are

To appreciate and understand the importance of PREbiotics, you must understand PRObiotics and their importance.

The word probiotics has become synonymous with “friendly bacteria” in your digestive system, also called your gut… now we answer the question – what are prebiotis?

These probiotic microbes are known as the good bacteria needed to keep you healthy. There is of course bad bacteria in there as well and they are constantly battling each other for domination of your gut! Fortunately, through diet, you can help the good guys to establish domination. The idea here is to keep the probiotic bacteria growing at a faster rate than the bad… easy right? Only if you supply them with the proper nutrients.

Prebiotics are the key

Simply put, prebiotics are foods that support probiotics, that is the beneficial bacteria in the intestines. This is the best, natural way to achieve good digestive health. By adding more good bacteria you will improve your immune system and help your liver to function better thus further protecting yourself from viruses, dangerous toxins and cancer causing cells.

Other Foods That Have Prebiotics:

whole grains
fruits
vegetables
certain fats
herbs
spices
red wine
dark chocolate

Fiber is the best known prebiotic. It’s a carbohydrate like sugar and starch and is found in all foods of plant origin like grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. Even though fiber passes right through our digestion track without being broken down, it has a valuable function as a prebiotic that supports the probiotic microbes in our gut.

Benefits of Prebiotics

Prebiotics work to feed probiotics helping to create an environment in our digestion system that is condusive in creating friendly bacteria which do not harm our body but rather protect it from harmful bacteria that can invade intestinal wall cells and cause infection, even polyps which are precursors to colon cancer.

High claims about probiotic supplements in foods such as yogurt products have helped to skyrocket this industry but the European Food Safety Authority have rejected most of these claims saying they could not be substantiated.

People who are not getting the results they were expecting from taking probiotics are looking at increasing their prebiotic intake to maximize their benefits.

Prebiotics + Probiotics = Synbiotics

To get the full benefits of probiotics, they are combined with prebiotics which creates something called a symbiotic. Some research has shown this can help to reduce the risk of colon cancer. Synbiotics are known to help in the healing time with people that have had serious injuries or surgery and have reduced the risk of things like blood infections and pneumonia.

Side Effects

While there are no side effects in prebiotics there can be some minor ones with probiotics. These are usually mild such as bloating or gas. Probiotics’ safety hasn’t been studied thoroughly yet as how they can effect groups of people with poor immune systems, older people and children.

Well-Known Prebiotic Superfoods

If you’re a bodybuilder and drinking whey protein supplement shakes then you are taking a very good prebiotic food. Another food that has been getting major attention from it’s benefits as a prebiotic is the kiwifruit. It’s fruit and skin are rich in the right fiber and enzymes which greatly help overall digestion and bowel motility.

According to DrDavidWilliams.com there have been studies from Hong Kong and elsewhere reporting some great benefits in patients who ate 3 pieces of the fruit a day. Eating kiwi “decreased constipation and laxative use in patients by improving bowel transit time”.

While looking for alternatives to the seasonal and expensive kiwifruit, Dr Williams found that the best substitute is a concentrate of the kiwifruit. Reporting that “This concentrate maintains all the enzyme activity of the whole fruit, while packing the prebiotics into a much more convenient form”.

Now a Digestive Supplement Made From 100% of the Kiwifruit

After much research and development the natural supplement company Xtend-Life Natural Products has produced Kiwi-Klenz, a pure all natural New Zealand Kiwifruit extract. This supplement can help other supplements (probiotic) work better, get more nutrients from the food you eat and help to regulate your digestive process.

What sets this product apart from others is that it’s not made from freeze-dried kiwi pulp who’s fruit skins have been discarded, making Kiwi-Klenz the world’s most potent and purest of quality prebiotic digestive supplement.

Please check www.xtend-life.com for much more information that we can give you here.

How Do Prebiotics Work? – Prebiotics are the food nutrients that feed probiotics that allows them to grow…

To you and your health!

Natural-Digestion.com