Digestive Disorders Health Center
What Are Probiotics?
Reviewed by Arefa Cassoobhoy on February 19, 2016
Sources
Megan Moyer; Registered Dietitian
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Video Transcript
MEGAN MOYER: Probiotics are
actually good healthy bacteria
that naturally occurs
in our digestive track.
Probiotics have been found
to actually help
keep harmful bacteria at bay,
help boost our immune system,
help improve
our gastrointestinal tract,
as well as ease some symptoms
of lactose intolerance.
Most people can actually benefit
from taking probiotics,
but it's also important to know
that you can get it from food as
well.
You can get it from fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, keifer, as well as other nondairy fermented products, like tempeh, soy, kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut. And prebiotics are actually the food for our healthy bacteria or probiotics. So we want to keep them healthy. We want to keep them fed. And the way that we do that is have more fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
You can get it from fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, keifer, as well as other nondairy fermented products, like tempeh, soy, kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut. And prebiotics are actually the food for our healthy bacteria or probiotics. So we want to keep them healthy. We want to keep them fed. And the way that we do that is have more fruits and vegetables and whole grains.