In India food reflects the warmth, hospitality, status, symbol of wealth and aesthetics. The synergistic combination of pre and probiotics is known as synbiotics. Regular consumption of synbiotics in diets imparts health benefits like improved immune response, maintain intestinal integrity, decrease intestinal infections and down regulate the allergic response, influence digestion and gastric motility. Because of the changes in life styles due to globalization, unhealthy diets, lack of physical activity and exposure to tobacco smoke or harmful use of alcohol non communicable diseases are disproportionately affecting the 80% of low and middle income countries. This review covers the mechanism of probiotic action, use of probiotics in treatment and prevention of diseases of modern age, progress in delivery systems for the administration and finally some regulatory considerations. In conclusion, combined skills of the microbiologist, food technologist and clinician are necessary to sustain effect of probiotics. The role of probiotic organisms as alternative or complementary therapy in combating a large number of disorders can be achieved with balance and healthy life style as well as clean external environmental conditions. It is hoped that more detailed research will be conducted regarding the efficacy of probiotics so that clinically well documented and simplest formulation will be developed and can be regarded as effective for everyone. With validated results strong market will be formed and expanded in near future. © 2012 Asian Pacific Tropical Biomedical Magazine.