Prebiotics are a source of food for probiotics, which are healthy bacteria in the gut.
They help probiotics to grow naturally, thereby supporting the diversity of helpful bacteria within the small intestine.
Adequate microbiome support is essential for enhancing the breakdown of fermentable short-chain carbohydrates.
Because such carbohydrates are prone to absorbing water in the small intestine, which can lead to constipation.
But fermentable short-chain carbohydrates can also cause bad bacterial overgrowth, usually referred to as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (or SIBO), which doesn’t include the probiotic bacteria.
Prebiotics selectively support friendly bacteria, which is why it is important in keeping a healthy balance that can prevent SIBO.
This also explains why fermentable short-chain carbohydrates, also called FODMAPs (or fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) can dramatically worsen digestive symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), through constipation, bloating, flatulence, overflow diarrhea, SIBO-associated diarrhea, and related dehydration.
Start with a product that helps you feed healthy bacteria!