---
title: Health benefits of prebiotics
description: Discovering new foods is fun. To ensure that the first solid foods do not create an imbalance in the child’s microbiota, babies need foods that contain sufficient prebiotics. Healthy bacteria need healthy food to make sure they grow with the baby and protect against illness.
---

[Hochdorf Inside](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en)

# [Health benefits of prebiotics](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/health-benefits-of-prebiotics)

 Written by [Janny Vedder](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/author/janny-vedder) | May 18, 2018 3:01:30 PM

Discovering new foods is fun. To ensure that the first solid foods do not create an imbalance in the child’s microbiota, babies need foods that contain sufficient [prebiotics](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/prebiotics/). Healthy bacteria need healthy food to make sure they grow with the baby and protect against illness.

## Health ben­e­fits of pre­bi­otics

-  Stim­u­late the growth and ac­tiv­ity of healthy gut bac­te­ria
- Im­prove gut ac­tiv­ity
- Strengthen the im­mune sys­tem
- Re­duce di­ar­rhoea
- Pro­tect against bowel can­cer
- Re­duce the risk of heart and vas­cu­lar dis­ease
- Pro­tect against al­ler­gic re­ac­tions

Fur­ther in­for­ma­tion  
+ Ar­ti­cle<https://www.hochdorf.com/en/company/inside/issue-no-6/prebiotics-in-follow-on-foods/>["Pre­bi­otics in fol­low-on foods"](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/prebiotics-in-follow-on-foods?hsLang=en)  
+ Overview ["Dys­bio­sis"](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/dysbiosis?hsLang=en)

## Pre­bi­otics – a del­i­cacy for healthy gut bac­te­ria

Pre­bi­otics are in­di­gestible, fer­mentable [poly­sac­cha­rides](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/polysaccharides/)and [oligosac­cha­rides](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/oligosaccharides/) or [car­bo­hy­drates](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/carbohydrates/) that are made up of sev­eral mono­sac­cha­rides (sim­ple [sug­ars](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/sugars/)) which can be the same or dif­fer­ent. Pre­bi­otics are the nu­tri­tional basis for healthy gut bac­te­ria. Bi­fi­dobac­te­ria, which in­habit the gut in larger num­bers, pre­fer oligosac­cha­rides.

Breast milk con­tains many water sol­u­ble oligosac­cha­rides. En­hanc­ing baby foods with oligosac­cha­rides like [GOS](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/galactooligosaccharides/) and [FOS](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/fructooligosaccharides/) makes sense:

**GOS:** These are galacto-oligosac­cha­rides which are pro­duced from [lac­tose](https://www.hochdorf.com/en/baby-care/glossary/glossar-detail/term/lactose/) with the help of en­zymes.

**FOS:** These be­long to the fruc­tooligosac­cha­rides which are de­rived from plants.

Fer­mentable poly­sac­cha­ride and oligosac­cha­rides are mainly found in oats, bar­ley, fruit and vege­tables.

 

<https://www.hochdorf.com/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Carbohydrates-classification-com_f2adb734f8.png>

Fur­ther in­for­ma­tion

 

- Ar­ti­cle<https://www.hochdorf.com/en/company/inside/issue-no-6/prebiotics-in-follow-on-foods/>["Pre­bi­otics in fol­low-on foods"](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/prebiotics-in-follow-on-foods?hsLang=en)
- Overview ["Dys­bio­sis"](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/dysbiosis?hsLang=en)

[View full post](https://inside.hochdorf.com/en/health-benefits-of-prebiotics)

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