healthy foods

dragonfly

So, as everyone seems to know what they are talking about on here, i thought i would ask...

What are pro biotics,
PRE biotics and Omega 3 or 6 and whats the difference?
OR is this a fad?

Hecateh

Hi, I moved this here as I think it is such an important question -

I can't stand Ms McKeith (and she is NOT a doctor except through payment of a fee) but I do believe that what we eat has a huge effect on how healthy we are are. AND I think this is truse for some more than others - some seem to be able to stay reletively healthy on a diet of cr!p but as we get older I think our bodies find it harder.

Youngster's too do much better if they have a healthy balanced diet with enough of the right sort of fats, carbs and protein and a little of the more fun stuff.

So

This is what I found

If probiotics were the first wave of functional foods, then prebiotics will be the next. With a probiotic, you use replacement live bacteria to replenish levels of those organisms that live naturally in the gut where they help with digestion and prevent an overgrowth of more harmful organisms. With a prebiotic, you go back a nutritional step and selectively feed up the good bacteria that already exist in the digestive tract.

To understand why pre- and probiotics have an important role and enormous potential in nutritional health you have to look at the microbiology of the gut. In a normal, healthy digestive tract, you would expect to find around 3lb of bacteria. At best, the so-called “friendly” ones make up a third of this population. At worst, and especially after the prolonged use of antibiotics or years of a diet that is too high in refined foods and sugar, levels of the good bacteria may be so low they are virtually undetectable.

The advantages of prebiotics over probiotics is that with many forms of the latter, it difficult to guarantee the survival of the replacement bacteria after ingestion. The acidic environment of the stomach, for instance, plus the action of bile is lethal to many of the replacement strains.

Some common and chronic complaints such as digestive disorders, acne, food allergies, Chronic Fatigue and depression have been strongly linked, in some people to too low levels of 'good' bacteria. AND obesity is also linked in some cases.

Live yoghurt is good for building up the good bacteria and prebiotics help them become strong and active.

However - other experts say that a healthy diet does not need these supplementing - get the diet right rather than rely on supplements. Live yoghurt contain the pro and your 'five a day' is definitely the best way to get the pre,

Back in a bit with the omegas

Hecateh

The more it is tested, the more compelling the hypothesis becomes. Dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia and other neurological problems seem to be associated with a deficiency of Omega 3 fatty acids, especially in the womb. The evidence of a link with depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and dementia is less clear, but still suggestive. None of these conditions is caused exclusively by a lack of these chemicals, or can be entirely remedied by their application, but it's becoming pretty obvious that some of our most persistent modern diseases are, at least in part, diseases of deficiency.

Again this is best got from diet, salmon, tuna mackeral or sardines just once a week ensure enough but there is no doubt that some children's attention and behaviour improves with supplements but it isn't a simple answer that benefits everyone.

When we get older omega 3 and 6 are also implicated in anything involving ciruclation so that includes heart disease and demential but the link isn't totally proven.

It is quite hard to find information about these things because adverisers, obviously, have an agenda to sell these things to you but the scientific answer seems to be that some people will benefit but that it is not a cure or a treatment as such.

dingsy

I did find that prior to developing various food intlolerances that the probiotics in, for example, thae actimel drink/yogurts, made a significant difference.
Agree with Hec over McKeith-but think she does a reasonably valuable job in the way she assesses peoples' problems and attitudes towards food.

dragonfly

I get so frustrated with all the different dos and donts with food... and to be honset,all the while i never cared i was a size 10.... now i pay attention im a 14....

Drives me nuts

Hecateh

unfortunately I think that is more due to gettting older and having children rather than increased knowledge about food. Some say, one of the main reasons mums put on weight is because they eat at the same time as their children and then again with their husband - even just an extra snack of a biscuit or two a day can soon pile on the pounds.

dragonfly

or an addiction to feasts and shreddies................. :oops: