What do all these terms mean? With the launch of the Pure Beginnings Probiotic Baby range for Sensitive Skin, we’re talking about the human microbiome and the use of probiotics and prebiotics to optimise it. Here we look at what these actually mean:
What is a Microbiome?
The Microbiome refers to all the microbes that live in and on the human body such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa and all of their genes. So how many microbes are we talking about? There are more microbes in the gut alone than there are cells in our entire body – in fact our bacterial cells outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1 making us more microbe than human if you think about it. We have known about the microbiome for centuries, and it has taken us 400 years to figure out that t
hese microbes are more friends than foes, and the majority of these microbes do not cause disease but are an essential part of our ecosystem and are vitally important for keeping us healthy. They help protect us from germs and pathogens, they allow us to get nutrients from our food and they boost our immune system. Recent evidence suggests that they influence our moods as well as playing a major role in preventing obesity.
The Skin Microbiome is the sum total of all the microbes that live in and on the skin.
What is a Probiotic?
Probiotics are beneficial microbes.
What is a Prebiotic?
Prebiotics are food sources for beneficial microbes. By giving them food, they proliferate and thrive thereby excluding the pathogenic (harmful) ones.
For further information on the new products: