Whats the difference between pre-biotics and pro-biotics?

Question

i see all this on the tv and wanted to know the difference? all the actimel stuff and all that..which does work because when i treid it i felt great!

Answer 1

OK. In short: Prebiotics are chemicals that encourage growth of beneficial bacteria, and probiotics are preparations OF beneficial bacteria.

So Actimel, and VSL3 are examples of probiotics - they contain combinations of bacteria that promote gut health and reduce risk of gut disease (no evidence on cancer though).

Chemicals like inulin and extracts like milk have prebiotic properties, and can be taken to enhance growth of 'good bacteria' such as Lactobacillus.

There is an increasing amount of good evidence about the beneficial effects of probiotics when recovering from a gut infection, in protecting against flare-ups of colitis, and antibiotic-related diarrhoea. There is slightly less strong evidence for prebiotics. I suspect that plenty of food companies are using the label 'prebiotic' as a marketing aid rather than relying on any actual evidence. An interesting area though.