Are prebiotics important for your child's immunity?

Science has revealed that the human body hosts ten times more microorganisms than the tissue cells it has; microorganisms, that account for about 2.5 percent of our body weight. Health experts speak of the importance of Prebiotics.

Among these, there are around 500 types of bacteria living in our digestive tract that help us in maintaining good health. Nutrition plays a key role in building immunity, especially during the early years of life and breast milk which is the primary source of nutrition for infants contains components that both actively and passively modify the immune system of an infant. One such component is Oligosaccharides – third largest component of breast milk – also known as Prebiotics.

Naturally one can obtain prebiotics from certain whole cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables. This is because some of these foods contain complex carbohydrates like fiber and resistant starch which is not digested easily. The body passes it through the digestive system undigested to convert this into food for the bacteria and other microbes.

Prebiotics are known for their health benefits:

It helps in the gut to increase the number of healthy bacteria, aid digestion and enhance the production of valuable vitamins.

Good bacteria perform a major role in preventing growth of disease-causing bacteria.

Prebiotics also help in keeping the body's mineral and electrolyte levels in balance which then indirectly helps in keeping the blood pressure in check. They also help in maintaining healthy hormone levels which therefore keeps our gut healthy and helps in mood

regulation.