The Pros of Pre & Probiotics

Probiotic. A word that most Celiacs are familiar with; a word that has been slowly migrating to mainstream status. Prebiotic, a little less commonly known, but they're basically a welcome party, prepping your body to absorb the probiotics better. Cruising through the grocery store you might stumble upon Activia, a yogurt by Dannon that contains probiotics. It was one of the first probiotic products that I stumbled upon a few years before I found out I had to eliminate the gluten. Now I see more and more products with a probiotic component, from juices to snack bars, to chocolate. A popular drink, Kombucha/Synergy, which is a tea drink with a somewhat vinegar taste and has bits of floating beneficial mushroom cultures. I've tried several flavors, but never found one that I actually wanted to drink. I've asked people who drink it what their favorite flavor is, and the typical response I get is they don't have one; they all kind of taste the same.

Recently Gluten Free Specialty brought in a new probiotic drink, PRE. Pre is a probiotic enhancer, and contains 3.5 grams of jarrow prebiotic blend. I was skeptical, but I figured what the hey. The flavors sounded appealing: peach mango, pomegranate blueberry, and 5 other fruity flavors. I loved the peach mango, and every other flavor I've tried thus far. It's really like drinking juice that only has 20 calories in 16 ounces, with the added benefits of aiding in vitamin absorption, maintaining my weak immune system, and aiding in digestion.

At around $2 a bottle, I've decided to try and drink a PRE 5 times a week for the next month, and see if I not only make it through the winter without getting really sick, but also if it helps me absorb all my vitamins and minerals better, as I'm currently Vitamin D deficient. I'm 6 days into it, I feel like my digestive track might be working a touch smoother, and I feel like it might be helping in leveling out my mood, as I think all of us suffer a little in the winter (again Vitamin D related).