Prebiotics vs Probiotics - Which Is Best for Gut Health?

hey everyone let's discuss prebiotics versus probiotics there is a difference this is important we'll cover that along with food sources supplemental sources guidelines for use and then round out our discussion with a comparison of which one might be better okay so probiotics are the microorganisms either bacteria or Yeast that have a beneficial impact on the host in this case us prebiotics are specific types of fiber that feed those bacteria not all fiber are prebiotics but nevertheless prebiotics are the food that help to grow and Foster the function of the bacteria so probiotics are the organisms prebiotics are their food what about how they function well they both have a degree of benefit for the gut probiotics are antimicrobial they reduce licky gut they modulate the immune system via this very important receptor we've discussed in Prior episodes toll like receptor 4 which is partially what governs leaky gut probiotics also Aid in motility they reduce gastrointestinal symptoms although they're not super effective for metabolic health for weight loss for lowering of blood sugar whereas prebiotics have an edge and there is some impressive data for the ability of prebiotics to lower blood sugar and have a beneficial Metabolic Effect prebiotics also increase beneficial bacteria as we covered a moment ago they modulate the immune system they produce fuel for your ocytes or your intestinal cells this fuel is known as short chain fatty acids however sort of paradoxically even though they produce these short chain fatty acids they're not very robust prebiotics in their ability to reduce gastrointestinal symptoms however I would make one caveat that if you suspect candida or fungal overgrowth or Yeast you should certainly use a probiotic but this is where I think consideration to also adding a preotic should be thought through because when trying to counterbalance the populations in the gut it's probably most important that we really bolster the healthy bacterial populations that hasn't been published that's just something I've been thinking about more so from a clinical perspective and by the way if this has been helpful please comment subscribe and share with one person you think this might help okay so now coming to dietary sources probiotic containing foods are fermented foods kefir yogurt kombucha and also sauerkraut and kimchi actually have both probiotics and prebiotics so that's kind of a two for one regarding the recommended intake for probiotic rich foods fermented foods there's no consensus amount one serving per day is usually sufficient one serving often being a cup and this level of consumption has been demonstrated to lead to health benefits regarding food sources of prebiotics fruits vegetables dairy grains beans legumes and nuts again there is no consensus regarding what the optimal intake is however I did find a 2023 randomized control trial interesting they administered seven servings per day of Prebiotic rich foods and they found improvements in mood anxiety stress and sleep so this then follows that seven servings per day of Prebiotic rich foods is probably a good Target so if you're having three meals per day this would be two to three servings per meal and conversely a total dietary fiber intake of 25 to 30 gram is a good aim here's a list of high fiber versus low fiber fruits and vegetables and what you could do is take stock of what you're eating and try to incorporate more of the higher fiber and a bit less of the lower fiber it's not the say say you should avoid lower fiber but this is one sort of tweak toward optimization you can consider so higher fiber fruits would be blueberries avocado Apple raspberries pomegranate and kiwi low fiber fruits oranges strawberries watermelon banana mango cantaloupe and peaches and then coming over to high fiber vegetables artichoke turnip green peas sweet potatoes brussel sprouts broccoli and collored greens whereas lower fiber would be iceberg lettuce mushrooms bell peppers cucumber celery zucchini and tomatoes and again it's not to say that you should be avoiding the lower fiber but make a note of the higher fiber and try to incorporate some of these and if you really wanted to go all the way you could count out what you're getting in a day and try to obtain 25 to 30 G of dietary fiber all righty so then we come to the very important usage guidelin there's a few caveats here as a clinician I can tell you that early in my career I thought whatever the diet or the intervention was early phase I was jazzed about and I thought was going to help everybody the paleo diet low carb probiotics Prebiotic supplementation glutathione and then with time you see that virtually any intervention will help some people not help others and even flare some so because of that here is a framework high fiber can be helpful for some it will aggravate those with sensitive digestion so you just want to be aware of that now conversely higher Probiotic foods fermented foods can aggravate and flare the symptoms for other people so the solution here is actually simple change one thing at a time let's say you're going to increase your fermented food intake there for your probiotics do this for about a week and then reappraise if if it's the right change for your gut you will see General improvements in how you feel now conversely you could in isolation try upping of your dietary Prebiotic and fiber intake and at the end of a week re-evaluate if this is the right thing for your gut you will notice that you generally feel better now the specific symptoms don't matter for some people a flare may look like constipation for someone else it could be diarrhea for someone else it might be insomnia and for someone else it might be a running nose the specific symptomatic manifestations of an intolerance are very idiosyncratic meaning they're different for different people it's the timing that matters and that's why to simplify this change one thing at a time take stock after a week and that will tell you are you doing the right thing yes or no if you get sidetracked or if you get hurdled you can always reach out to the clinic myself or someone on our team would love to help you this is what I enjoy is helping people navigate these trip wires so they can improve their gut health and reap all the benefits there in okay so continuing to supplemental probiotics we've discussed on the show in the past at nauseum this framework of probiotics partitioning into one of three formula types there's your traditional blend of lactobacillus and bifido bacterium species so on the label you'll see various lactobacillus and bifidobacterium conversely there's a healthy fungus either as sacy's bardi or sacy serici and then finally the soil-based probiotic type will have some type of basilis species bacillus coagulin bacillus Lin formis basilis subtilus any one of these formulas is fine to start with for the lacto bifido you're looking at a dose of 1 to 50 billion per day for the sacr myces anywhere from 4 to 10 billion per day and for the soil based anywhere from 2 to 6 billion per day just to give you a starting point with formula selection dose and for duration 2 to 3 months is usually a good interval to assess initial Effectiveness coming over to prebiotics the main types of prebiotics are Ulin resistant starches what's known as fos or go so fru oligosaccharides or galacto oligosaccharides and then finally partially hydrolized gu gum and many most formulas will contain some combination of these and I think that's probably the best way to utilize these because in Foods you will often have a diverse array of prebiotics and not necessarily just one regarding dosages there is an important clarification for prebiotics specifically most research has used between 5 to 15 G per day however a 2013 review paper found that in those who have otherwise sensitive digestion a dose of 3 to five gam per day was both effective helpful but also was not enough a high enough dose to trigger symptoms so this I think is important to bear in mind if you're someone who historically has noticed if you don't eat the right way let's say or you're under stress you may notice you get backed up or you have bloating abdominal pain diarrhea or reflux I wouldn't jump right into something like 10 or 15 grams per day of prebiotics if anything I would start at 3 to 5 re-evaluate and then slowly ramp up over time more is not always better but those are some guidelines to navigate the use of of prebiotics and there's a few formulas here that I'll share with you in brief regarding supplemental prebiotics bioa boost is the formula we use in the clinic and a four capsule serving gives you three grams conversely Garden of Life has a organic fiber supplement Two Scoops gives you 10 gram so now we're getting a little bit higher and this company hyperbiotics has a Prebiotic formula called hyperbiotic vegan Prebiotic Two Scoops gives you 14 G so any of these would be suitable again if you've noticed your gut is a bit reactive I would start with the 3 to five grams and then re-evaluate potentially building up to a higher dose there can be a little bit of gas and flatulence that's transient when starting on or increasing your dose of Prebiotic so that's important to bear in mind and as long as you're not noticing pain fatigue and the only thing is really just blowing some wind then it's probably your microbiota adjusting give that a few days to a week and if that subsides great if it continues or you start noticing other negative reactions like abdominal pain discomfort reflux fatigue that's telling you to back off you may have also heard this term synbiotics this is a combination of of probiotic and Prebiotic in the same formula and these are all fine and good my preference is to use them separately because as we've outlined you want to be able to throttle especially with the Prebiotic the dose and so when you're taking a fixed formula as a symbiotic you don't have that control okay and then the final Point here sort of the showdown between probiotics and prebiotics which one is better not that it's a contest but I did find from the very noteworthy Journal cell a 2021 paper to be quite insightful they compared either a high fiber so this will also have higher Prebiotic diet versus a high fermented food diet six servings per day of fermented foods and they found that the fermented food diet was Superior at improving the diversity of the microbiota and in reducing levels of inflammation both diets were helpful but there is an edge toward the probiotic Rich fermented food based diet when we compare that with a metaanalysis from 2023 looking at those with digestive symptoms as seen in IBS administering prebiotics and finding no benefit this is why I tend to favor probiotics over prebiotics they both have their time and their place just to give you sort of a hierarchy with how you start utilizing these either dietarily or supplementally and so in close probiotics are the bacteria or the fungus prebiotics are the food that feeds them both can be helpful and important they will not be helpful for everyone so run that simple experiment we talked about earlier and I think we can say that there's a slight Edge favoring probiotics okay well I hope this helps and please do let me know in the comments what you think and or how your experim goes [Music]

Channel: Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC, DNM

Views: 3,143

Keywords: prebiotics probiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, gut health, benefits of probiotics, prebiotic foods, prebiotics vs probiotics, probiotics foods, prebiotics benefits, what are prebiotics, probiotics for gut health, prebiotic, fermented foods, best probiotics, sources of prebiotics, gut microbiome, gut bacteria, probiotic supplements, prebiotic supplements, prebiotic fiber, biota boost

Id: 3Efllxhj3ts

Length: 14min 12sec (852 seconds)

Published: Thu May 16 2024