Key Takeaways:
- Optimizing gut health requires ensuring you have the right amount of healthy bacteria in your body
- While probiotics provide active, live bacteria, prebiotics provide that bacteria with what it needs to thrive
Many people connect supplementation for gut health with probiotics, but today we want to educate you about prebiotics.
What Affects Gut Health?
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, gut health is directly impacted by the makeup of your microbiome. Your microbiome is made up of trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Every person has a unique microbiome that is influenced by their DNA at birth, and later influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle choices like diet and exposure to pollution (1). Ensuring we have the right amount of healthy microorganisms in our bodies is the way to optimize our gut health. We can do this through diet and lifestyle choices, and by supplementation.
Prebiotics vs Probiotics
Probiotics contain active live bacteria that are targeted to improve gut health and digestive function. Prebiotics is a lesser-known term. Prebiotics are what promote beneficial bacteria growth in the gut – think of them as healthy food for your gut microbes. While a probiotic provides active, live bacteria, a prebiotic provides that bacteria with healthy nutrients it needs to thrive. Prebiotics help our bodies maintain a diverse variety of bacteria in our gut, which can strengthen our immune response. Most prebiotics are classified as a type of fiber (2).
Your Glow Begins Within
Taking care of your gut health means ensuring you have a healthy supply of prebiotics in your body. Diet along with supplementation is key to ensuring you’re supporting the growth of diverse, active bacteria in your gut. Shop GUT GLOW, Bend Beauty’s gut health supplement with prebiotic fiber, here.
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