| Hi Olivia,
So what is the difference? Prebiotics are non-digestible fibres that feed beneficial gut bacteria, while probiotics are live bacteria that provide health benefits.
Taking prebiotics and probiotics together in the same supplement is known as 'synbiotics'
But what does the evidence say about them together?
Luckily, we have rounded up some key points for you based on the evidence
- The prebiotic addition to a probiotic in theory encourages the growth of the good bacteria found in the probiotic within the gut.
- There is no strong evidence that taking pre and probiotics works better together than just taking a probiotic on it's own.
- Some prebiotics are high FODMAP so could cause issues in people with IBS.
- Synbiotics may improve inflammatory markers in the body and increase levels of good bacteria in the gut (but the research is limited so results might not apply to the wider population).
We have written an in-depth post on pre and probiotic which you can read here. |
