PROBIOTICS, PREBIOTICS AND SYNBIOTICS

The benefits of Probiotics have been recognized and explored for over a century. Probiotics consist of bacteria or yeasts and can be considered functional foods that can re-colonize and restore the microflora symbiosis of the intestinal tract. Several health benefits associated with the Probiotics in various diseases includes Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Colon Cancer, Rotavirus-associated diarhoea, H. Pylori infection and Liver disease etc. Prebiotics are "non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon". Dietary modulation of the gut microflora by Prebiotics is designed to improve health by stimulating numbers and/or activities of Probiotics like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacill. This review also discuss the results of randomized controlled clinical trials that used Prebiotics to treat IBD, Hypertension, Colon Cancer, Diabetes and Hepatic Encephalopathy as well as their potential applications. The combination of Probiotics and Prebiotics is known as Synbiotics. Recently Synbiotics have been proposed as a new therapeutic option in Pediatric surgery, Digestive organ surgery, Liver disease and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS). This article provides the overview of how Pro-, Pre- and Synbiotics contribute towards various health benefits.