Everything you need to know about Prebiotics, Probiotics and Synbiotics: food examples, supplement effectiveness and side effects

1. Difference between pro- pre- and synbiotics and examples
2. Why not just take a pill or capsule?
3. Potential side effects of probiotics

Why are these biotics important anyway?

Prebiotics and probiotics have long been known for the exceptional benefits they confer on overall health. More specifically, they are praised for their great health benefits in terms of digestion and the immune system. Studies have shown pre-, pro- and synbiotics to be associated with: 

• Improved nutrient absorption
• Decreased inflammation
• Better-controlled weight and appetite (promoted satiety and weight loss)
• Improved bowel regularity
• Decreased bloating or flatulence and diarrhea or constipation
• Reduced bad cholesterol and thereby improved cardiovascular health 
• Reduced anxiety and improved mental health conditions

And thanks to all of these, an INCREASE IN WELLNESS. 

Now that it’s clear that these biotics are definitely something you want to consider taking, let’s dive deeper into the what and how. You may have heard of prebiotics and probiotics already, and are curious to hear about synbiotics. But what you might not know or maybe want to know more about, is what exactly the difference is between them, in what form to use them (pill/capsule or food), in which foods they can be found and whether there are any side effects to consuming them. All you need to do is read on for these mind-boggling questions to quickly be unraveled…

---

Difference between pro- pre- and synbiotics and examples

Prebiotics

Prebiotics refer to all the different kinds of non-digestible fiber that feed beneficial species of bacteria in your gut and thereby allow them to grow. They don’t feed you directly as you can’t digest them, but they feed your gut bacteria, which in the end, are part of you (fun fact: you have more microbial cells in your body than that you have human cells. I think you’ll now agree it would be scary to think that these weren’t part of you).

The majority of prebiotics are found in different forms of carbohydrate, which can be found in different foods you naturally eat. The two most well-known prebiotics are FOS (fructooligosaccharides: low-calorie, non-digestible carbs) and inulin (a group of natural polysaccharides, also non-digestible carbs). These prebiotics naturally occur in many plants. Hereunder is a list of prebiotic-rich foods to implement in your diet.

The following foods contain the highest amounts of prebiotics:

• Chicory root
• Garlic
• Onion
• Asparagus
• Green bananas
• Jerusalem artichoke (sunroot)
• Acacia gum (gum Arabic)
• Dandelion greens
• Leek

Note that the raw version of these foods have higher amounts of prebiotics than the cooked version.

Other good sources of prebiotics:

• Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, beans (kidney, soy)
• Fruits: custard apples, watermelon, grapefruit
• Cereal grains: bran, barley, oats
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, pistachio nuts, flaxseeds

Probiotics 

Probiotics are strains of bacteria that are beneficial for your gut. They allow for microbial balance within your gut, meaning a balance in the number and type of bacteria you have in your intestines. For good gut health, it’s important to have enough diversity concerning the types of bacteria in your gut as this is important for supporting your immune system. Also, you need enough of the beneficial types of bacteria in order to ward off the more malignant types that undoubtedly often intrude into your body. The ideal balance is about 85% good bacteria and 15% bad. Probiotic bacteria compete against malignant bacteria for the bacterial binding sites on the inside lining of your intestines, aiding in the maintenance of this ideal ratio. They have the capability to restore intestinal microflora which often becomes unbalanced due to illness, stress, age, or the use of medication such as antibiotics. Do take into account that different probiotic strains are effective at different levels and have different effects on health.

The most used and studied probiotic strains are: Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium (Bifidus), and Saccharomyces boulardii (which is actually a yeast, not a bacterium). Among these strains are many different species. For instance, the strain Lactobacillus is made out of the species: L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. bulgaricus, L. reuteri, and L. rhamnosus.

Foods high in probiotics mostly have a combination of several of these strains and species. These are often fermented foods. Hereunder is a list of these probiotic-rich foods.

Foods rich in probiotics:

• Kefir (a fermented milk)
• Miso (fermented soybean paste)
• Natto (fermented soybeans)
• Tempeh (fermented cooked soybeans)
• Kvass (or ‘black bread’, fermented drink made from rye bread)
• Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)
• Apple cider vinegar (fermented apple juice)
• Kimchi (fermented vegetables, often spicy and including cabbage)
• Pickles (fermented cucumber)
• Kombucha (a fermented tea)

Key to remember is that just because you’re eating probiotic-rich foods or taking probiotic pills, doesn’t mean you can eat fast food or processed foods without also experiencing their detriments to health. 

To visualize this, imagine yourself in a gardening setting: the probiotics would be the fertilizer for the soil your plants are in, while the prebiotics would be the water you shower them with. If you only give your plants the fertilizer and no water, your plants won’t live to be very healthy. If you give them only water and no fertilizer, they’ll live but not in their best possible health. If however, you give them both, then they’ll most likely be in their best possible health. You must have enough prebiotics (water) in your diet to feed the probiotics (the fertilized soil) to make your health (the plant) flourish and thrive. This is where synbiotics come in, as they are specifically a combination of this water and fertilized soil. 

Synbiotics

Synbiotics refer to how prebiotics and probiotics work together – in synergy – to improve your health. It’s very useful to combine these two as it’s more effective: the bacteria in your gut are more likely to survive if they are adequately fed, than if they (possibly) lack food. Studies have shown that taking synbiotics has a greater beneficial effect on your health than taking either only prebiotics or only probiotics, so stack up and combine these fiber-rich and bacteria-rich foods!

---

Why not just take a pill or capsule?

The drawbacks of the biotic supplement industry

Super-cheap containers of pre- and probiotics that claim to reverse your health for the better are very tempting to believe. However, the supplement industry is one that is hard to believe. Many of the brands making biotic supplements are commercial and lack the technology to identify specific strains of bacteria together with the quantity of that strain in each dose. This could mean that you are getting an ineffective or maybe even harmful dose into your body. 

With probiotics, the most important thing is survival. These bacteria die easily. Nevertheless, they must survive several obstacles before they get to your gut: from manufacturing to shelf life to the acid in your stomach. This means that when probiotic supplements claim to have a certain number of bacteria, this is more indicative of the amount of bacteria at the time of manufacturing than the amount of bacteria at the time of purchase, let alone the amount of bacteria that end up in your gut. All in all, the number of organisms that reach your gut may well be much lower than what the supplements indicate. 

To avoid this, you can buy your supplements from a healthcare professional or supplements that are submitted to third-party testing. What I personally recommend though, is to get your probiotics and prebiotics from foods in your diet, so you not only enjoy the benefits from the fiber and bacteria, but you also reap the benefits from the foods themselves. Fermented foods for instance not only contain probiotics but also a myriad of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. 

Watch out: not all fermented foods necessarily contain probiotics 

Fermented foods containing ‘live and active cultures’ are certainly healthy and hopefully tasty, but don’t let yourself be misled as they do not necessarily contain probiotics. To be a probiotic, a food must: 1) contain live microbes 2) be delivered to the lower digestive tract in efficacious quantities and 3) provide a health benefit. A ‘live and active cultures’ seal or description does not mean that there is data to support that the strains are live when they reach your gut and that these strains also benefit your gut. All it means is that there were live and active strains at the moment of manufacturing the product. 

Note that while many fermented foods such as sauerkraut ferment using naturally occurring live cultures, they are often pasteurized – a process involving heat that will kill all the bacteria in the food. Sometimes but not always, manufacturers afterward add the missing probiotics. This is the case if they want to sell the product with the label ‘probiotic’, which means that non-labeled sauerkraut you buy in the supermarket might actually have been ridden from all its healthy bacteria (FYI: if you put your sauerkraut in a delicious oven dish, all bacteria will also have died). Because of this, it’s best to ensure that the foods you buy are truly fermented (make sure they are refrigerated as this ensures a greater chance of active cultures) or to make your own fermented foods at home. 

If you still prefer buying your pre- and probiotics in the pill form, one of the best products out there is NewRhythm. NewRhythm has probiotic supplements that are scientifically tested as well as third-party tested, they use 20 different strains of probiotic bacteria at a pretty high concentration, and their supplements also include prebiotic fibers, so you can nourish your gut with a very rich synbiotic formula. 

---

Potential side effects of pre/probiotics

Generally speaking, pre- or probiotics cause no significant side effects. However, not every prebiotic or probiotic is right for every person. Also, if you suffer from gut disorders such as SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or Candida, your symptoms may possibly get worse with the use of probiotics. 

Symptoms of a pre- or probiotic not being right for you are:

• Bloating (after having taken it)
• Constipation or diarrhea (must be resolved when you stop taking it)
• Increased irritability

Also, remember that the more imbalanced your gut is, the more probiotic bacteria (and prebiotic feed) you shall need to recover this imbalance and enjoy their positive effect on your health. 

---