PREbiotics 102 - Summary of IBS-related Readings
Briefly, it’s important to know what PREbiotics are–essentially, they are the kind of soluble fiber that stays in the gut without being digested. Because of that, they reach the large intestine and colon. And because of that they preserve the good bugs/bacteria–the PRObiotics–that would otherwise be destroyed before reaching the large intestine, where they are most needed. In our case they are most needed to control Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which takes place in the large intestine.
PRObiotics are good bacteria, “bugs.”
But PREbiotics are something different. They are foods, such as bananas, and elements of foods, such as fiber. The article calls them “fiber gums.” The most researched PREbiotic appears to be inulin. FiberSure ™ is completely composed of inulin. Acacia fiber is another PREbiotic that is a more complete form of the general PREbiotc term FOS or Fructo-Oligo-Saccharide. Additional PREbiotic fiber gums are guar gum, which is the major ingredient of Benefiber ™, and Xanthan gum. As the lore about IBS management has developed, these are also called soluble fibers.
Are you getting that MIGO feeling? Where MIGO stands for “My Eyes Glaze Over?”
Basic difference - PREbiotics are the unmixed, soluble fibers, plus some foods such as bananas.
PRObiotics are bacteria, pure and simple, or not so simple. Align ™ is a probiotic with a new, patented bacterium. The most usually researched PRObiotics have been lactobacillus and bifidobacterium (which an advertising person has apparently renamed “Bifidus Regularis (tm(?)).”) :-)
We have only been using the term “prebiotic” since its invention in 1995, by a Belgian scientist. Prior to that time–and probably for some time after that, too–I believe the term “soluble fiber” would have been used, at least when speaking about IBS in lay terms.
So when rice and bananas also calm the gastrocolic reflex, and then stay good all the way down, it’s not that they are “soluble fibers” per se. Rather, they are (or have a lot of) PREbiotics.