There is a growing awareness of how beneficial components of foods such as probiotics and prebiotics may help improve gastrointestinal (GI) health. To aid public understanding of emerging research on probiotics and prebiotics, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation has issued the IFIC Foundation Functional Foods Fact Sheet: Probiotics and Prebiotics.
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the relationship between diet and health and that has led, in turn, to an increasing demand for “functional foods” like probiotics and prebiotics (which provide the nutrients for probiotics). Functional foods include any food or food component believed to provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition.
According to the Fact Sheet, probiotics can be found in supplement form and as components of foods and beverages, such as certain yogurts or other cultured dairy products. Prebiotics can be found in foods such as whole grains, onions, bananas, and garlic and in supplement form as well.
The Fact Sheet further details the specific benefits associated with probiotics and prebiotics, how the GI tract functions, the actions of pro- and prebiotics in the GI tract, and the body of research associated with both pro- and prebiotics.
The Probiotics and Prebiotics Fact Sheet, along with other fact sheets on Functional Foods, is available at the IFIC Foundation Web site: www.ific.org/publications/factsheets/preprobioticsfs.cfm.
