The concept is pretty simple as to how prebiotics and probiotics work together. Basically, a prebiotic feeds a probiotic. The prebiotic is food and the probiotic is the living organism that eats it.
In our previous posts we went into some detail about how prebiotics work. The image on the right show that not only do prebiotics feed probiotics, they also have a direct affect on the immune system... stimulating it. The prebiotics help the probiotics establish themselves faster so they can help their host (us, or animals) sooner than if they had to do it all on their own.
Imagine you bought a rundown home and moved into it right away before fixing it, or perparing it. You moved in and then had to start setting in, but nothing was quite right. You would be pretty stressed. Now, imagine that you had a crew come in and clean it all up, repaint it, even move all your stuff in..right where you wanted it. You would be able to get right into the swing of things without skipping a beat and would be ready for action. The crew your hired is the prebiotc in this scenario. In reality, we are the broken down house that needs cleaning up and both the prebiotic and the probiotic are working together to fix it all and make it a happy home. Pretty simple, isn't it? When they work together you have synergy. This is why combining a prebiotic and a probiotic is called a synbiotic.
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How do Probiotics and Prebiotics work together?
