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 "Prebiotics in follow-on foods"
+ Overview "Dysbiosis"
Prebiotics – a delicacy for healthy gut bacteria
Prebiotics are indigestible, fermentable polysaccharidesand oligosaccharides or carbohydrates that are made up of several monosaccharides (simple 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 and FOS makes sense:
GOS: These are galacto-oligosaccharides which are produced from 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.