The Best Prebiotic Foods and Why You Need Them

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Ensuring your gut bacteria (your microbiota) are in balance is of the utmost importance to your overall health and well-being. This microbial system, teeming with trillions of organisms (including beneficial bacteria), comprises what is known as your microbiome.

Scientists are finding increasing evidence that your gut and microbiome, though previously overlooked, actually participate in or even control several systems in your body. In fact, the microbiome has shown to have so much bodily influence that it’s being called “the second brain [1].”

Researchers have documented how this second brain influences immunity, the production and upregulating of serotonin and dopamine (as well as many other hormones and chemicals)[2], hypertension, mood, depression, weight regulation, inflammation, and more [3].

On the other hand, a compromised microbiome (a condition known as dysbiosis) can lead to disease, allergies, obesity, autoimmune issues, and worse [4].

You may be aware that probiotics (healthy gut bacteria) are essential for your gut (microbiome) health. Supplementing with a quality probiotic product, and/or incorporating fermented and other probiotic foods, is a basic measure to kickstart, improve, or maintain a healthy microbiome [4].

However, there is another piece of the healthy microbiome puzzle that many people miss out on… PREbiotics.

What Are Prebiotics?

Though the exact definition of prebiotics is under review [5], the generally accepted definition of prebiotics is best put by the Mayo Clinic:

“Prebiotics are nondigestible substances that act as food for the gut microbiota. Essentially, prebiotics stimulate growth or activity of certain healthy bacteria that live in your body [6].”

Family making salad with fiberous prebiotic veggiesIt certainly seems logical that if you want a healthy set of microbiota (gut flora), you would “feed” them and encourage them to thrive. Yet, few people are familiar with the concept.

A study published in 2015 shared results of a survey of 200 adult inpatients at an urban hospital. Only 11% of respondents knew the term “prebiotic,” and only 7% picked the right definition out of the four other choices [7].

Of more concern is that in a survey of 245 health care providers (100 of which were doctors), only 22% were familiar with the term. Also worrying, there was distinct confusion among this group about the differences between probiotics and prebiotics [8].

Despite this appearance of common ignorance, prebiotics, as they relate to our microbiome and overall health, are getting increasing attention from the scientific community. This is largely due to the extreme importance of a healthy gut, as mentioned above.

The Impact of Adding Prebiotic Foods to Your Diet

In fact, there is some evidence that “just” adding prebiotics to your diet can have profound effects on your microbiota. In what appears to be a somewhat informal study devised by Gemma Walton, Ph.D., School of Food Biosciences at the University of Reading in the UK, the BBC Science and Nature page reported the following in 2014 [9]:

We took 8 hard-working cowboys, and divided them into two groups. Half of them were put on a diet of probiotics − cultures containing good bacteria found in foods such as yoghurt. The other half we put on a prebiotic diet − substances found in certain vegetables such as leeks and bananas, which make the pre-existing good bacteria in the gut healthier.

Then we got down to the dirty work. Their poo was examined daily to measure the change in bacteria. If the good bacteria are fed well they should multiply in number and make the ranchers healthier.

The cowboys’ poo showed that the prebiotic group managed to increase their good bacteria numbers by 133 million, small in bacteria terms, but an encouraging effect. The probiotic group saw little change over the week, but over a longer period there’s evidence that they can make a difference.

It seems from our investigation the best thing you can do for your bacterial health is treat your good bacteria to a prebiotic meal.

The conclusions drawn from this small study is gaining evidence in formal research as well [10]. More so, science is demonstrating that the combined one-two punch of using both prebiotics and probiotics has significant potential for improvement in various conditions, and contributing to long-term health [11].

So what are these “nondigestible substances” that can have such a meaningful impact on our health and microbiome?

A Closer Look at Prebiotics

Generally speaking, prebiotics are fiber. They are insoluble fiber that cannot be completely digested, and can survive the small intestine, arriving at the large intestine to feed your microbiota. Such fibers include [12]:

  • inulin
  • fructo-oligosaccharides (fructans, FOS)
  • galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)

Strawberries are a prebiotic foodEating foods high in fiber has long been considered to better your health, across the board [13,14]. Many of us end up with a compromised microbiome by way of antibiotics, stress, high sugar and low-quality, high-fat diets, and eating few probiotic foods.

Not eating enough fiber to nourish the microbiome − the typical Western diet − is another way we can inadvertently create imbalance in our microbiota [15].

Good bacteria can die off, and other bacteria, as well as viruses and fungi, can gain the upper hand [16]. But it doesn’t end there.

According to Monash University of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences in Australia, the benefits of a diet abundant in prebiotic fiber also include [12]:

  • elevated satiety (feeling full)
  • weight management
  • reduced symptoms and incidence of IBS
  • improving overall immune function
  • protection from gut infections
  • an increase in the uptake of minerals like calcium and magnesium.

Other Prebiotic Sources

While most prebiotic food sources are fiber, not all are. The scientific requirement to be classified as a prebiotic food is a food that [14]:

  • resists gastric acidity, hydrolysis by mammalian enzymes, and absorption in the upper gastrointestinal tract
  • is fermented by the intestinal microflora
  • selectively stimulates the growth and/or activity of intestinal bacteria

Recently, some starches have also gained attention as prebiotics. These are termed “resistant starches [17,10].”

Resistant starches also make it through your digestive system through to your large intestine, and due to their “resistance” to being digested, serve as a buffet line for your gut flora. (NB: Those with leaky gut and other conditions with compromised gut linings need to be cautious when introducing resistant starches to the diet [27].)

So with all this in mind, what exactly are the best prebiotic foods that are high in prebiotic fiber?

The Best Prebiotic Foods

The best prebiotic foods, encompassing the known types, are [6,12,14,16,18-20]:

Fruits

Nectarines, watermelon, green bananas, green plaintains, cashew apples, berries, custard apples, grapefruit, rambutan, white peaches, persimmon, and dried fruit.

Vegetables

Garlic, leek, jicama, dandelion greens, onion, spring onion, Jerusalem artichokes, fennel bulb, chicory root, snow peas, green peas, savoy cabbage, asparagus, shallots, sweet corn, potato, burdock root, yacon root, seaweed, and konjak root.

Legumes

Lentils, red kidney beans, soybeans, baked beans, and garbanzo beans (chickpeas).

Cereals/Breads/Snacks

Oats, couscous, gnocchi, pasta, barley, rye bread & crackers, wheat bran, and wheat bread.

Nuts & Seeds

Pistachio, cashews, whole hemp seeds, and flax seeds.

Other

Honey, wheat dextrin, rice, polydextrose, acacia gum, psyllium, kefir, and cocoa. 

A special note on rice, potatoes, and pasta: the prebiotic “resistant” qualities intensify if you cook, then COOL these foods [21]. Thus, pasta or potato salad, and a cold rice pudding or salad would have stronger prebiotic qualities than fresh-cooked.

As with any food, finding the best quality form of all the above is vital. Choose organic wherever possible, and at minimum, food that has not been irradiated [22,23].

The One-Two Punch of Prebiotics & Probiotics

Of course, the purpose of eating all these healthful and delicious foods is to promote the vitality of the probiotics already in your body. It’s making the most of what you have.

It stands to reason, and is being confirmed by researchers, that the combination of eating prebiotic foods and probiotic foods is the ideal. Eating probiotic and fermented foods and substances that are an excellent source of enzymes, anaerobes, lactic acid, probiotic strains, and more, is a foundation, and relatively easy to accomplish.

However, in this day and age, we can’t count on food alone to get all the strains of microbes we need to have the most diverse and healthy microbiome.

Supplementing with a quality probiotic that is plant-based (not over-sensitive to heat and other conditions that can cause die-off between manufacture and home), with strains such as Bacillus coagulans and Lactobacillus plantarum [24-27] that can survive the stomach and upper gastric tracts, as well as consuming probiotic-encouraging prebiotics is the one-two punch your microbiome, health, and well-being needs to be at optimal function.

One closing note: If you have gastrointestinal issues or other health concerns, seek medical advice from a qualified healthcare practitioner.


Organixx ProBiotixx+ formula contains a single, super-strain of Lactobacillus plantarum, designed to help alleviate constipation… eliminate gas and belly bloat… support your entire immune system… and give you total digestive protection.

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Article Summary

  • A compromised microbiome can lead to disease, allergies, obesity, autoimmune issues, and more.

  • Prebiotics are indigestible substances that act as food for the gut microbiota.

  • Adding prebiotics to your diet can have profound effects on your microbiota.

  • Using both prebiotics and probiotics has significant potential for improvement in various conditions and contributing to long-term health.

  • Benefits of prebiotic fiber include:

    • Feeling full
    • Weight management
    • Reduced symptoms and incidence of IBS
    • Improving overall immune function
    • Protection from gut infections
    • An increase in the uptake of minerals like calcium and magnesium.
  • The best prebiotic foods are fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, nuts, and seeds.

Comments

  1. Thank you , my wife is of Japanese decent born in the USA! makes fermented foods weekly

    Thank you for your list , she will definitely make the ones you outlined

    Thanks again

    We live your products

    Joe

    • Too many grains and seeds listed here. Gluten, phytate, protease inhibitors and other anti nutrients wreck havoc on the digestive system. The "goodness of whole grains" is an outdated myth, andneeds to be addressed when mentioning digestive health..

      • Yes grains and nuts have phytates and enzymes which make them less digestible..

        Answer:. The Weston A price foundation has outlined the best way to make them better it's an old old knowledge from hundreds and thousands of years ago.

        Simply soak your seeds and nuts generally from four to six hours p pour off the old water and soak him again rinse them and they're good to go! Easy.

      • You are so right!

        The book "No Pain No Grain " explains the principles...

        And a great number of people have allergies or intolerances to gluten. .even if not: best to avoid grains with gluten.

        Also people suffering with arthritis should not take certain foods (inflammation..) or milk products..

  2. Very good information. Sometimes that are good and bad things about does and we must weigh the good verses the bad. For instance, cashews may be considered as a prebiotic yet they are a Lectin and some believe Lectins are not healthy to consume. Again "dark breads" have similar pros and cons and we should watch "night shade" veggies.

    • What is an optimum healthy food for you, may not work at all for me. Assuming that all human body types (chemisties) are alike is a foolish and dangerous approach. Eating according to my blood type drastically changed my life and my health. And likely saved it from a accelerated and sufferable aging process. Several first hand similar testimonials from friends/relatives corroborate that my experience is not an anomoly.

  3. I agree with Stan. Interestingly enough, most of the prebiotic foods listed, I am allergic too (oats, barley, flax, cashews, potatoes, kidney beans, garlic...the list goes on). And wheat??? Since when is wheat a prebiotic?

    Wheat should be completely eliminated in everyone's diet due to it's horrific flooding of pesticides from the onset of the seed being manufactured & Monsanto injecting the seed with Round up before it even grows in the fields!

    Not sure if the food list was helpful but the explanation was. Thank you.

    • Wheat as God created it is one of the best food you can get.

      I am gluten free too so I understand where you are coming from.

      Get organic spelt which is the closest thing to good wheat ....but don't ever have it unless it is organic. And don't have it before you have taken restore from restore 4 Life which can reseal your gut and heal the gluten/ glyphosate reactions. All good was created to be helpful but not the ones men's greed has changed. Enjoy food and live!

  4. I have problems with food fermenting in my stomach! I do probiotics but would like to know if probiotics could help my situation.

    • Carole I had the same thing years ago, but eventually realized it was lack of stomach acid in my case (my doctor didn't know and wasn't interested). I'm sure there are online methods of testing if you have enough stomach acid/hydrochloric acid; it would be a good idea to look the ways of testing that up before adding it to your diet, but I think it might help from what you've said.

      I also found out a couple of days ago by chance that lack of taurine in the diet (I have been mostly vegetarian for years) actually affects hydrochloric acid in the stomach and makes it weaker - I don't know if this might help, but I hope so - if vegetarian please look up other nutrients you might be missing.

      Then you should look at prebiotics and probiotics, and/or ask your medical service provider. Please double check any information given to you so you know it is accurate. I'm not a doctor, I just know about the things that I've suffered for so many long and want to help others if I can. (It is alarming that out of 100 doctors surveyed in the article above so few knew about pre and probiotics!).

    • Fermentation in the stomach may indicate excess yeast or fungus you could try rubbing your gums with origano oil

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