Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms intended to maintain or improve the “good” bacteria (normal microflora) in the body. Probiotics are in foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, and kimchi.
Prebiotics (typically high-fiber foods) act as food for human microflora. Prebiotics are used to improve the balance of these microorganisms. Prebiotics are in foods such as whole grains, bananas, greens, onions, garlic, soybeans and artichokes.
You have 39–300 trillion bacteria living inside you. Most of these bacteria reside in your gut, and most are harmless. Some are helpful, and a small number can cause disease. We need these healthy bacteria to stay in the correct balance. Having the right gut bacteria has been linked to numerous health benefits, including weight loss, improved digestion and immune function, and healthy skin.
If our microbiome and a healthy balance of bacteria are so important, then why don’t we just go to the store and buy probiotics in a capsule and take those? The study of the microbiome is a very new area of medical science. Our microbiome is like a fingerprint and everyone is very individual. How do you know what the correct balance of bacteria would be and what levels are optimum? The commercial probiotic products may not be the bacteria that you need and might make your microbiome balance worse.
The best thing we can do per the American Gut Project is to try to eat 30 different plant foods each week. The American Gut Project collected over 15 thousand microbiome samples, along with health information on the sample subject. They are using these samples to further the study of microbiome health. The best thing we can do is to eat a large variety of plant foods to feed the good bacteria in our microbiome.
https://www.mymicrobiome.info/en/news-reading/the-american-gut-project
