Dietary fiber is a general term for carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human body, which is divided into insoluble dietary fiber and soluble dietary fiber. Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are common insoluble dietary fibers; pectin, fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides are common soluble dietary fibers.

What is the current status of dietary fiber intake in China? The results of the 2014 Chinese Residents' Nutrition Intake Survey show that the average dietary fiber intake of Chinese residents is 14.5g/day, which is 10~20g/day away from the recommended intake of 25~35g/day. Therefore, on average, each person needs to supplement about 15g of dietary fiber per day to achieve the dietary fiber intake for a healthy intestine.

I. Differences among probiotics, prebiotics and dietary fiber

Prebiotics are dietary supplements that improve the health of the host by selectively stimulating the growth of one or a few bacteria, which has a beneficial effect on the host. Successful prebiotics are mostly indigestible when passing through the upper gastrointestinal tract and can be fermented by intestinal flora. The most important thing is to stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria rather than potentially pathogenic bacteria and harmful bacteria with spoilage activity.

Probiotics are a type of active microorganism that is beneficial to the host, which is a general term for active microorganism that colonize in the human intestine and reproductive system and can produce definite health effects, thereby changing the host's microecological balance and playing a beneficial role. The main beneficial bacteria for the human body are lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus jensenii, etc.), bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium acidophilus, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, etc.).

II. Differences between active probiotics and inactivated probiotics

The difference between inactivated probiotics and active probiotics lies in their different positioning. In the inactivated probiotics experiment, researchers in the laboratory administered inactivated Lactobacillus plantarum to rats inhibited tumor cells daily. The results show that the effect of inactivated Lactobacillus plantarum on tumor cell growth was most obvious after tumor cells were transplanted. Experiments show that the effect of using inactivated Lactobacillus plantarum is still obvious. The probiotics added to toothpaste are lactobacilli. It has been proven in the laboratory that adding inactivated probiotics to toothpaste is effective, and compared with active probiotics, inactivated probiotics are safer and are not limited by the number of bacteria.

Source: Food News

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