What are the Benefits of Combining Fiber with Probiotics?
Both probiotics and dietary fiber can be beneficial for digestive health. But what happens when you combine them?
The Role of Probiotics
Probiotics offer many benefits for digestive health, including enhanced digestion, protection against bad bacteria, and a reduction in digestive symptoms like diarrhea and constipation.
Although some foods, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha, are cultured with or have added probiotics, not all probiotic foods have enough live bacteria to survive the digestive system to provide health benefits. They may also not have the right combination of strains to have a lasting impact on your gut health.
On the other hand, a targeted probiotic supplement typically provides information on the CFU (colony forming units) per gram of live active microorganisms, which ideally will be 107 to 1011.
Finding a product with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria may be preferable since much of the research on common digestive issues, such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, has used multi-strain products.
The Role of Fiber
Adequate fiber intake is critical for digestive health; it keeps your gastrointestinal tract moving and your bowel movements regular and helps prevent chronic conditions.
Increasing your intake of whole plant foods high in fiber, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds, will provide a variety of insoluble and soluble dietary fibers, along with other crucial nutrients and beneficial plant compounds.
Fiber supplements can be helpful if you’re looking to add a specific fiber source. Some varieties of fiber offer more benefits than others, depending on your health goals.
Combining Probiotics and Fiber
If you’re supplementing both probiotics and additional fiber, it’s typically best to take them separately since some of the beneficial bacteria can adhere to the fiber and be eliminated rather than absorbed.
Prebiotic fibers work with the good bacteria in the digestive system by increasing their numbers and activity, including their ability to support immunity and maintain the gut barrier against harmful pathogens. Prebiotics can also enhance the benefits of probiotics.
It’s preferable not to take probiotics and prebiotic fiber simultaneously because if the probiotics ferment the prebiotics too soon, this can cause bothersome symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating.
Synbiotics designed to be combined are the exception.
Synbiotics are combination products that typically contain probiotics with a prebiotic, most commonly inulin, GOS, or FOS, that supports its beneficial health effects. Research has found that synbiotics can enhance the microbiota, increasing beneficial Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli.
The goal of a synbiotic is to maximize the health impact of both the good bacteria and the prebiotic fiber by providing them together. The amount of fiber in synbiotics varies, from very small quantities to larger amounts. Look for products that provide an optimal blend of probiotics with prebiotics.
Omni-Biotics’ probiotic products Balance and AB 10 are both synbiotics, providing small amounts of prebiotic fiber to enhance their digestive benefits.
