Is MicrobeFiber a Prebiotic?

By Alex White, MD

Image courtesy of MicrobeFiber.com

During my past few blogs I have written about how soluble fiber, such as that contained in MicrobeFiber, is one of the keys to helping your body do everything from digesting food, to warding off such unpleasant conditions as allergies and asthma.  A high-fiber diet can also help combat diabetes, as well as assisting people looking to lose weight, improving their cardiovascular health and it has even been shown to help ward off cancer.  That’s pretty good for something that’s as easy to use as mixing a powder into your food or drink. 

But is MicrobeFiber considered a prebiotic or a probiotic?  This is a question many patients routinely ask me.  While both prebiotics and probiotics are involved with maintaining the health of your gut flora, they do so in different ways. 

Human beings are chock full of bacteria. Our skin, gut, and organs support a wide variety of bacterial colonies that perform complex chemical interactions vital to the functioning of the body.  These communities of symbiotic, pathogenic microorganisms are referred to collectively as the microbiome.  Everything from your nose to your toes harbor bacteria.  If you took all the bacteria in an adult’s body and balled it up, its total weight would be less than 3 pounds.  Yet for something so small, the health of your microbiome has a huge effect on your overall health.  That being said, the only time we really notice our body’s bacteria is when they get out of balance.

Probiotics Are Like Spare Tires

Many of you who have had the flu are prescribed probiotics to stem the tide of diarrhea that can occur when broad spectrum antibiotics kill off not only the flu bugs, but the beneficial bacteria that live in your intestines as well.  The easiest way to wrap your brain around a probiotic is to think of it like a spare tire.  The spare is used as a replacement when you have a flat.  Probiotics are used much the same way, to replace beneficial bacteria lost due to environmental factors.   

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Probiotics are also found in everything from yogurt and cheese to other products that rely on live bacteria to complete their life cycle.  The trouble with probiotics is that they are extremely touchy.  Everything from heat to stomach acid can kill the majority of them before they have even had a chance to be digested.  Those who are lactose intolerant may also find getting enough probiotics through diet all but impossible.  That’s why probiotic pills and powders are available over the counter in pharmacies.

Prebiotics Are Like Fertilizer for Your Gut Flora

Prebiotics, on the other hand, don’t replace so much as feed your body’s beneficial bacteria.  Most usually found in plant fibers, prebiotics act on your digestive tract much the same way as fertilizer does in your garden.  Every time you eat an apple (with skin) you’ll ingest up to 5 grams of fiber.  Munching on a couple dozen almonds provides 3.6 grams.  Eating a cup of popcorn while watching a movie can add another 4 grams of dietary fiber to your diet.  That’s important, since the typical adult requires up to 35 grams of fiber per day to keep their body healthy.  (The typical American only ingests less than half that amount on average.) That’s why prebiotic supplements have become so popular.  Instead of having to radically alter your diet, all you have to do is add MicrobeFiber to food and beverages.  What could be simpler? 

Unlike probiotics, prebiotics are made of sterner stuff that can withstand the process of digestion.  Stomach acid doesn’t deter them.  Neither heat nor cold affects them.  They are made tough enough to pass through the gut with ease.  In fact, that’s one of the chief benefits of ingesting fiber: avoiding constipation. (Just make sure you don’t overdo it by going from one extreme to the other when adding fiber to your diet. Slow and steady is the rule.)

Consisting of both soluble and insoluble fiber, prebiotics have been working their way through our gut since the time when we were living in trees.   What has thrown modern man’s guts out of whack has been the introduction of a high-fat, high-sugar, low fiber diet common to the western world.  Homo Sapiens have been around for nearly 4 million years.  During the majority of that time, people ate pretty much anything that didn’t eat them first. It is only in the last 100 years that processed and genetically modified food has been introduced to our diet.  It has also led to food allergies.

In my recent blog, “Nothing to Sneeze About,” I wrote about the rise in allergies in the developed world. While there are many factors involved in allergic reactions, one of the most telling is the connection between a low-fiber diet and allergies.  I also pointed out the fact that the reason our forebears had a much lower incidence of allergies had a lot to do with what they ate.  In short, cavemen didn’t eat quiche.

If you have been having health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, allergies, asthma and digestive trouble, or are merely looking to improve your health via holistic medicine, I urge you to try adding a prebiotic such as MicrobeFiber to your diet.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Whether it's aspartame, fillers or flavoring, many fiber supplements have additives. Microbefiber™ has NO additives! The contents of our product is designated by the FDA as GRAS, which is the FDA designation that a substance added to food is considered safe by experts and so is exempted from the usual Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Try Microbefiber, and you will see the difference.

Alex White, MD is the Clinical Research Director of MicrobeFiber™