An Introduction Into Child Synbiotics And Gut Health

Research into gut health has been expanding in the past number of decades as scientists are finding many links to gut health and overall health and development. Because of this, we can try to influence the health of our guts, and that of our children, by eating certain foods. By this point, just about every Australian has heard the claims about probiotics, but synbiotics and gut health are just starting to get noticed in the mainstream.

You, as a parent, take the health of your child very seriously, as you should. With advances in nutritional and biological research, there is so much more to take advantage of to ensure your child has every health advantage. It’s a good idea to learn about synbiotics and what they can do for both you and your child’s health.

Keep reading to get a better understanding of synbiotics and why they are so important to your health.

What Are Synbiotics?

Synbiotics are essentially a combination of probiotics and prebiotics. Everyone has heard of probiotics and how good they are for you due to the mainstream promotion of products that have a high probiotic content. Probiotics are live microorganisms that add ‘good’ bacteria to your gut. It has been proven that probiotics help promote better digestion and gut health, but sometimes they need a little help to make it all the way down into your stomach. When probiotics struggle to get all the way to your gut, prebiotics can help by giving their probiotic brethren strength in the form of feeding them.

By getting your prebiotics and probiotics in at the same time, they can more easily work together. You can use synbiotic supplements to achieve this or you can eat foods with a balance of probiotics and prebiotics such as yogurt that contain live probiotic cultures topped with bananas which are a prebiotic food. Generally, fiber-rich foods which include a lot of vegetables, cereals, and fruit provide prebiotics, while fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and kombucha can contain probiotics.

Why Is Gut Health So Important?

In recent years research has found that probiotics are inherently tied to how well your digestion works. When you are digesting foods better it means your metabolism is running more efficiently. If everything is working properly, this will ultimately give you more energy from smaller amounts of calories. There is also research showing that a healthy gut and pro/prebiotics can help people deal with conditions such as IBS, and just generally have a healthier bowel. Having a healthy bowel and gut is going to go a long way in improving your overall quality of life.

Your Child’s Gut Health

When a baby is born, their gut already contains the right microorganisms needed, and the nutrition they receive afterward directly affects how their gut flora will develop. If a baby is breastfed, then they will receive a changing combination of prebiotics and probiotics tailored to their specific requirements. Once a child is eating solid foods, a balanced and healthy diet will give them a synbiotic mix of both prebiotics and probiotics.

For growing children to have optimum gut health, it is essential to get the synbiotic mix right. An unhealthy or unbalanced gut can increase the risk of digestive problems like constipation and diarrhea, and it also increases the chance of your child developing food allergies. In contrast, well-balanced gut flora will support your child’s developing immune system, as well as help with the digestion of nutrients from a healthy, well-balanced diet so your child can grow and thrive.

It Is Ultimately Up To You

If you are looking for something extra to help improve the gut health of your children and even yourself, it is a good idea to eat the right combination of foods that will boost your gut flora. Synbiotic supplements are a good option if you feel that your child may not be getting the right balance of probiotic and prebiotic foods from their diet. If in doubt it’s best to talk to your family doctor, pediatrician or nutritionist, they will be able to help lead you in the right direction for better gut health for you and your children.