Prebiotic For Healthy Probiotic

We know that a healthy probiotic (good bacteria) population in our gut contributes to better digestion and absorption as well as reduced pathogens (disease-causing microbes) in the intestine. Prebiotic is food for probiotics that enable the microscopic organisms to thrive in our intestines.

Oat bran is a fiber-rich prebiotic. It lowers cholesterol, may reduce blood pressure and inflammation, which is great for heart health.  Fiber is a bulk food that helps one feel full, thus contributing to weight lost by eating less. It may also help regulate blood sugar levels, which can aid in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes. All these health benefits are not unique to oat bran. All prebiotic foods offer these health benefits and more. You don’t need to confine yourself to eating oat bran because there are tens of thousands of prebiotic plants worldwide for you to choose from!

Food Sources of Prebiotics

For a long time, I had noticed that when I eat a lot of fruits and leafy green vegetables (especially veggies), I am less troubled by poor digestion and it is easier to move my bowels.  However, not all fruits and leafy greens have this beneficial effect; only selected high-fiber ones are prebiotics. When I travel and do not get enough fiber in my diet, I get constipated. Therefore, normally I would pop probiotic capsules to help with my constipation since the microscopic organisms aid digestion. It was only recently that I came across the term ‘Prebiotics’. On further investigation and reading up research done on the subject, the reason why probiotics and high fiber diet work makes sense to me. If we want our gut to be colonized by beneficial microbes, we have to provide them with the right diet to enable them to flourish.

Here is a list of food to encourage good probiotic growth:

·         Acacia Gums (Gum Arabic), guar gum, raw potato starch, slippery elm, locust bean gum.

·         Bran is the nutritious, fiber-rich outer casing of grains. Common sources are from wheat, oats, maize, rye, rice and barley. You can also get it from whole meal or unpolished grains.

·         Onions, garlic, leeks.

·         Jicama tuber, turnip, wild yam, beetroot, burdock, dahlia tuber.

·         Raw chicory root, rhubarb root, common black nightshade.

·         Raw dandelion Greens, sowthistle leaves, cabbage tree.

·         Spinach, wild spinach, cabbage.

·         Raw asparagus, raw Jerusalem artichokes, yacón, soy bean.

·         Banana, apple and citrus pectin.

·         Flax seed

·         Chlorella, agar-agar, blue agave plant.

·         Radish, carrot, tomato.

·         Beta glucans can be found in most mushrooms, active hexose correlated compound (AHCC), and colostrum (in milk).

Humans have developed a symbiotic relationship with certain microbes over hundreds of thousands of years of co-existence. We provide microbes with nutrition through the food we ingest. The microscopic workforce in our gut in turn releases nutrition from food that our system could not digest properly or not at all. Eating food with prebiotics ensures the beneficial microbes outnumber the harmful, toxin-producing ones.