Prebiotics – The What, Why And How 

Probiotics often take center stage when it comes to gut health.

Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that populate the microbiome. They are naturally found in fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi, and are increasingly taken as a daily supplement. 

There is a large body of evidence linking the health of the microbiome to improvements in metabolism, weight, skin disorders, autoimmune disease,s and more.

When the microbiome is balanced and robust, the host (you!) benefits immensely. 

While probiotics are an important piece to microbiome health, prebiotics are equally, or perhaps even more important. Yet, we often don’t hear as much about what prebiotics are, why we need them and how to use them in our lives. That’s exactly what we are going to dive into today. 

This article will answer the following questions on  prebiotics: 

  • What are prebiotics?
  • Why do we need prebiotics?
  • How do we get the most out of prebiotics?

 

What Are Prebiotics?

The official definition of a prebiotic is “a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit.” In other words, it is a substance that feeds probiotics or other beneficial microorganisms producing a positive effect on health. 

You can remember it this way: The probiotic is the seed and the prebiotic is the feed. 

Most prebiotics are special types of fiber, but the category of prebiotics also includes polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in foods like berries, chocolate, and green tea. 

Not all fiber is prebiotic, but most prebiotics are fiber. Fiber is simply a carbohydrate (molecules made of sugars and starches) that we can’t digest, but bacteria can.

As the probiotics ferment fiber, they form beneficial compounds.

One such category of compounds are short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) including butyrate, which provides energy to the cells that line the colon.

In fact, these cells prefer using butyrate over any other fuel source, which is just one example of how our health is dependent upon the health of the microbiome.  

Prebiotic fuel also allows beneficial bacteria to proliferate, which keeps pathogens in-check and keeps digestion regular.

When fed prebiotics, probiotics also produce certain nutrients for you such as vitamin B12 and vitamin K2 that are then absorbed into the body. 

Types of prebiotics include:

  • Inulin – fiber
  • Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) – fiber 
  • Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) – fiber found in human milk
  • Lactulose – a non-absorbable sugar
  • Resistant starch – a type of non-digestible starch found in cooked and cooled potato and rice
  • Polyphenols – plant antioxidant compounds

 

Food Sources Of Prebiotics

Since prebiotics are fiber and plant compounds, they are easily obtained in the diet.

Here are some common Paleo prebiotic food sources:

  • Artichokes
  • Asparagus
  • Apples
  • Berries
  • Burdock root
  • Cacao
  • Chicory root
  • Dandelion greens 
  • Leeks
  • Green bananas or plantains
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Jicama
  • Potato starch
  • Sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
  • Yacon root

Why Do We Need Prebiotics? – Health Benefits

Ninety-five percent of Americans don’t consume enough daily fiber. That staggering number suggests that we really aren’t eating enough vegetables, fruits, seeds and other whole plant foods.

This pattern is common in the Standard American Diet (SAD) where the majority of calories come from processed foods and convenience items instead of meals made with high quality, whole ingredients. 

Low fiber diets like the Standard American Diet depletes probiotics, promotes imbalances in the microbiome and leads to chronic disease.

Meeting fiber needs correlates with a lower risk of heart disease, improved gut health and maintaining a healthy weight. 

What we eat – including fiber and prebiotic foods – modulates the microbiome.

Each of us has the power to rapidly change the composition of the microbiome, simply by choosing more whole plant foods, and especially prebiotic foods.

Positive microbiome changes have been documented in as little as 24 hours!

This is exactly why plant foods are such an important part of the Paleo diet. 

Let’s take a look at some of the important benefits of prebiotics themselves.

  • Immune Health – Prebiotics influence immune messengers called cytokines to reduce inflammation. In addition, prebiotics may help change the way a person’s immune system responds to an allergen, effectively decreasing allergies. 
  • Bone Health – Prebiotics have a positive effect on calcium and mineral metabolism. Prebiotics have been shown to increase calcium absorption and may help to improve bone mineral density through the gut-bone axis. 
  • Skin Health – Often, improving skin health begins in the gut. Balancing the microbiome affects the gut-skin axis. Both probiotics and prebiotics modulate the immune system and have a beneficial effect on the skin. In addition, there is evidence to support their topical use to directly affect the skin microbiome. 
  • Digestive Health – It’s easy to see how prebiotics positively affect the digestive system itself. We already mentioned the production of butyrate. Prebiotics have been studied in various GI disorders including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), dyspepsia (indigestion) and others. 

We are learning more about the microbiome all of the time and will likely uncover more benefits of prebiotics for feeding certain bacteria and addressing various health concerns. 

How To Get The Benefits Of Prebiotics

Increasing prebiotics may be an important part of a gut healing protocol for prevention or addressing a specific health concern.

We find probiotics in both foods and supplements.

Here are some tips for incorporating more prebiotics into your routine and reaping the health benefits:

1. Increase overall fiber. Most adults will need 35 to 38 grams per day minimum of fiber intake for optimal health. Of note, some of our hunter-gatherer ancestors would eat over 100 grams per day from wild plant foods. Since the average intake is much lower, increasing fiber may take a little attention.

Here are some tips for increasing fiber:

  1. Fill half your plate with veggies.
  2. Choose starchy vegetables such as winter squash and plantains to add to meals or eat before and after exercise. 
  3. Snack on fruits such as berries and apples.
  4. Add ground flax seeds or hemp seeds to salads and smoothies. 
  5. Add in particularly high fiber foods such as avocados and artichokes. 
  6. Bake with high-fiber flour such as coconut flour or almond flour. 

2. Use food as medicine. With a Functional Medicine approach, it’s possible to take a look at your microbiome (through testing such as GI MAP) and then tailor a dietary approach to feed specific bacteria.

For example, Akkermansia muciniphila is a probiotic bacteria that is important for a healthy mucosal lining of the gut and metabolic health. If yours is low on a stool test, you can help them grow by consuming specific polyphenols.

Try adding some of this delicious and nutrient dense polyphenol rich Exceed Greens + Reds into your next smoothie!

3. Increase prebiotic foods. By increasing fiber and plant foods, you’ll naturally be getting more prebiotics. Yet, some of the specific foods listed earlier in this article may be unfamiliar and more challenging to get into the diet. Here are some ideas: 

  1. Make a Paleo hummus with artichokes as the base. (Choose artichoke hearts in a jar vs. can to limit exposure to BPA).
  2. Try baking with green banana flour.
  3. Add dandelion greens to salads or a stir-fry. 
  4. Use a high quality cacao powder in smoothies or brownies. 
  5. Try a chicory root coffee replacement.
  6. Slice raw jicama and dip in guacamole.
  7. Add berries to salsa.

4. Consider a prebiotic supplement. Many options exist that use specific prebiotics such as inulin, FOS, potato starch and others. The key here is to go low and slow. Those with microbiome imbalances who may need prebiotics the most may actually tolerate them the least at first. Side effects of taking too high of a dose include abdominal pain, bloating, gas and changes in bowel movements. Start with a quarter (or less) of the recommended dose and slowly work your way up to a higher dose. 

5. Don’t forget hydration! As you increase fiber and prebiotics, you’ll likely need to drink more water to maintain regularity. Not drinking enough water, along with a high-fiber diet or using prebiotic supplements, may lead to constipation for some. 

6. Try Exceed Greens + Reds Organic Grain-Free Superfood Powder. This is not your typical greens powder! It includes red foods, which are often potent sources of prebiotic polyphenols, prebiotic fibers including inulin, probiotics, antioxidants and digestive enzymes.

Exceed Greens + Reds falls into the category of a symbiotic because it contains both probiotics and prebiotics for a symbiotic effect. This is truly a functional food or a food-as-medicine approach to microbiome health and total body wellness. 

While probiotics get all the attention, as you can see, prebiotics are necessary for the probiotics to do their job properly. 

You don’t want to be paying a lot of money for probiotics if you don’t have the prebiotics to fuel them!

Once you know about prebiotics, and where to easily add them into your routine, you’ll provide microbiome support at a whole new level.

As you get consistent with these changes you’ll affect health throughout the body, easily, deliciously and safely. 

References

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