Your gut microbiome
A “biome” is a distinct ecosystem characterised by its environment and inhabitants.
So, your gut microbiome (also known as gut microbiota or gut flora) refers to the millions of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites primarily living in your digestive tract. Your gut microbiome is unique to you.
While science has yet to define what a healthy gut microbiome looks like, there is growing consensus that an imbalance between microbes that:
Support your health (“Good” gut microbes)
Could be harmful, especially if they start to thrive and make themselves really at home (“Bad” gut microbes)
… may not only lead to uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating (by the way, here are a few natural remedies you could try for bloating relief)and gas but also increase your risk for various immune-mediated, metabolic, and neurological diseases, including type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
The technical term for this imbalance? Gut dysbiosis.
And how can you minimise the chances of your “bad” gut microbes from overpopulating and overrunning your “good” ones for a healthy, balanced gut flora? That’s where probiotics and prebiotics come in.
The difference between probiotics and prebiotics
What are probiotics?
According to an international expert panel’s consensus, “probiotics are live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” (The host, as in, you.)
This means you can basically classify probiotics in the same category as your “good” gut microbes.
When you eat probiotics (we’ll cover dietary sources later), they’ll travel through your gastrointestinal tract and eventually settle in your colon, where they’ll stick around, increasing the density of your “good” gut microbes.
What are prebiotics?
Unlike probiotics, prebiotics aren’t living microorganisms.
Instead, they’re non-digestible fibres and compounds (mostly resistant starches) that serve as a nutrient source for the “good” gut microbes. And while you can’t digest prebiotics, your gut bacteria can — breaking them down via fermentation, producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as butyrate, propionate, and acetate, that:
Serve as the primary fuel source for your intestinal epithelial cells. These cells line the inside of your gut; they play many important roles, including helping you digest your food, enabling nutrient absorption, and protecting against infections.
Keep epithelial cells tightly linked together. This reduces the risk that unwanted compounds might leak into your bloodstream (“leaky gut syndrome”), triggering an inflammatory response that may manifest as various diseases.
Have been linked to many health benefits. Research shows that SCFAs may reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Which is better: probiotics or prebiotics?
The truth is, when it comes to optimizing your gut health you shouldn’t be thinking about probiotics or prebiotics. You should be thinking of probiotics and prebiotics.
That’s because they play different but complementary roles:
Probiotics increase the diversity and density of beneficial bacteria, and
Prebiotics nourish beneficial bacteria so they can thrive
This is why we’ve formulated our NEW Super Beauty Greens powder with both probiotics and prebiotics. More specifically, every serving of this powerful Organic Greens blend delivers:
5 strains of highly clinically researched, symbiotic probiotics to fortify the gut lining, promote healthy microbiome balance, and provide digestive comfort (at a concentration of 5.6 billion CFUs for maximum effectiveness)
4 prebiotics to help feed the “good” bacteria in your digestive tract
And that’s not even everything Super Beauty Greens offers — but more on that later. We’ll also cover what “CFUs” mean for those wondering. For now, here’s how else you could add probiotics and prebiotics to your diet.
How to add probiotics and prebiotics to your diet
Prebiotics
Let’s talk about prebiotics first. (Because probiotics are a little … complicated, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.) There are no official guidelines for the recommended daily amount of prebiotics, but health experts believe consuming 3 to 5 grams daily may benefit gut health.
Below, find some of the best prebiotic-rich foods you could eat, along with their fibre content:
Food
Fibre content/grams
3
Half-cup cooked pearled barley
3
2.3
8
4
Probiotics
Now, time for probiotics.
As with prebiotics, there is no overarching recommendation for the proper dosage of probiotics for everyone. However, most health experts recommend aiming for a daily intake of 1 to 10 billion CFUs.
CFUs? What’s that?
Probiotics are measured or quantified in what’s known as colony-forming units (CFUs). These indicate the number of viable cells (i.e., live, beneficial microorganisms) in the probiotic product.
Now, here’s the thing.
While you can easily find probiotics in fermented foods, such as kimchi, gochujang, sauerkraut, miso, pickles, natto, yogurt, and kefir, there’s a problem. You can never be sure if enough probiotics (these are living microorganisms, after all!) survive well in the product.
Probiotics are sensitive and can be easily destroyed during product processing, transportation, and storage.
Meaning? That daily serving of yogurt may not be as great for your gut as you think.
Right … so, what can you do if you want to get more prebiotics and probiotics into your diet, but you:
Can’t fit fibre-rich (i.e., prebiotic-rich) foods into your meals because of your taste preferences or busy lifestyle?
Suspect that prepackaged fermented foods aren’t providing your body with enough CFUs?
Hate the taste of fermented foods?
Three words: Super Beauty Greens.
This phenomenally powerful organic greens blend is loaded with a synergistic combination of 4 prebiotics (partially hydrolysed guar gum, chicory root fibre, acacia fibre, and organic banana resistant starch powder) and 5 probiotic strains (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum) to help you meet your gut health goals.
Other ingredients you’ll absolutely love include digestion-easing digestive enzymes, glow-giving hydrolysed collagen peptides, and energy-giving herbal extracts.
And don’t worry, our Super Beauty Greens are fruity and refreshing with NO grassy aftertaste. Indulge in 3 delicious flavours: Strawberry Kiwi, Apple Blackcurrant, and Tropical Punch.
