Potential book to look at reading: Cultured

Prebiotics are the compounds in food that help our healthy bacteria thrive. There are two categories of microbes: Ones we have had throughout our lives that adapt to living there and microbes we get from food & supplements. The food/supplement microbes are ephemeral and may not have the long-term impacts that the more permanent residents will.

Instead of taking probiotic pills, a more beneficial alternative is to create conditions for the long-term microbes to thrive and benefit us. This is done by feeding these microbes fiber. If you don’t feed your microbiome, it will start to eat away at the mucus lining causing leaky gut issues. Different kinds of fibers help different microbes thrive. A more diverse microbiome is an indicator of health.

One kind of fiber that is beneficial is inulin which is commonly found in foods like chicory root or sunchokes. It’s a very long carbohydrate chain so it takes longer to pass through the digestive system and get broken down. Research has shown that it encourages the growth of both bifidobacteria and lactobacteria which are two strains commonly linked to health benefits. Another comes from fruits & veggies calls fructo-oligosaccharides. It is shorter than inulin but adding it to your diet has shown to reduce inflammation. Galacto-oligosaccharides are a form found in milk and are broken down in the colon. Resistant starches are another type of fiber. It comes from more simple carbs which have been cooked and cooled. Once they have become cooled, they become a type of resistant starch our bodys cannot breakdown but our microbiome can. This might take the form of cold pasta or potatoes.

Fatty meats like pork can have negative impacts on us because they produce a metabolite called TMAO which is linked to negative health outcomes.

We eat substantially less fiber than we used to in hunter gatherer days. The recommendation of daily fiber instake for the average adult male is 38 grams and for the average adult female is 25 grams. Most people are getting around 15 grams of fiber per day. Traditional hunter-gatherer cultures eat 100 plus grams of fiber per day. This lack of fiber may be having a large impact on the diversity of our microbiome.

Generally, wild fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, or pickles tend to have a higher diversity of microbes than store bought probiotic-infused yogurts.

Creating the right environment for our native microbes is the best way to boost the health of your microbiome. The best way to to this is to eat a lot of diverse types of fiber.

Good Prebiotics:

  • Whole oats or steel-cut oats
  • Asparagus
  • Dandelion Greens
  • Leeks
  • Garlic
  • Bananas
  • Onions
  • Apples
  • Flaxseed - make sure to grind whole flaxseed before eating to reap the benefits.
  • Cocoa