Are prebiotic and probiotic sodas really good for you? A dietician explains

BALTIMORE -- Wellness drinks are now filling grocery store aisles. As popular as drinks like kombucha and prebiotic sodas are, do they actually help you?

We asked Dana Mealing, a dietitian at LifeBridge Health, whether these trending drinks are as healthy as they claim to be.

"Gosh there's so many," she said. "I feel like there's a new one every time I go to the store."

All with bright, pretty packaging, and what sounds like health benefits.

But Mealing says maybe not.

"I'll say that maybe they don't work as well as we think they do or might lead us to think."

That includes popular probiotic drinks like kombucha.

Probiotics are bacteria and yeast in our bodies that help absorb vitamins and minerals. But as far as getting them from drinks --

"All this is still being researched," Mealing said. "It's still very new. Tere's thousands of different strains and maybe seven that have been studied that extensively."

Prebiotic sodas are another popular choice. Prebiotics are fibers that feed gut bacteria. But to get that fiber, Mealing recommends food over drinks.

"There's more support for a high-fiber diet than supplementing with a prebiotic," she said. "There's just a lot more function and health benefits when we eat our whole foods, fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes - those are great sources of fiber."

Especially since only 7% of Americans get the fiber they need.

As long as you're not relying on these drinks for nutrients --

"It's still nice to have a fun frilly drink that's not going to be a whole lot of sugar or a whole lot of caffeine," Mealing said. "So if you feel good, and you're not harming your lab work in any way... then by all means. Yeah"