Prebiotics | Food for your Microbiome

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The information in this video is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this video is for general information purposes only.

The healthiest microbiomes are diverse like the Galapagos. But modern processed diets are starving our gut microbes, turning that diversity into a monoculture. This microbe monoculture starves the intestine, making the linkages between the intestinal cells leaky. A leaky gut allows nasty chemicals to seep in and cause inflammation, driving diseases like type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We want to learn how to manipulate the microbiome to optimize health. One way is through probiotics, when you eat actual live microbes. Another way is through prebiotics. Prebiotics are compounds in our food that fertilize beneficial microbes. Feeding fiber to our microbes generates beneficial microbe poop that is good for our health. The best studied prebiotics are in the fructooligosaccharide and galacto-oligosaccharide families - let’s call them FOS and GOS. We can eat FOS in asparagus, onion, garlic, beets, banana, tomatoes, dandelion greens, wheat, barley and rye and GOS in legumes, like chick peas and lentils. FOS and GOS stimulate growth of good bacteria in the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium families. When these bacteria ferment FOS and GOS, they produce beneficial microbe poop. One common issue among adults is constipation. Can a prebiotic help prevent constipation? Enter inulin, a type of FOS extracted from chicory root. Supplementing healthy but constipated adults for 4 weeks with inulin improved poop consistency and increased frequency, significantly enhancing quality of life. Another source of prebiotic fibers is oatmeal. Oat fibers like beta-glucan stimulate growth of good Bifidobacteria and generates that beneficial microbe poop. Pretty much everyone should be eating fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes which naturally contain prebiotics. One exception are people with inflammatory bowel syndrome. Some IBS symptoms can be managed by identifying specific dietary triggers through an elimination protocol called the low-FODMAP diet. This diet eliminates all the nutrients that can be fermented by microbes and then slowly adds them back in to figure which specific foods are problematic. Build your diet around diverse plant foods to nourish your microbiome.

References

Footage: Darryl Leja, NHGRI

[johnharding]

Gets to the point at 4'10". Her list is asparagus, garlic, onions, beets, bananas, tomatoes, wheat, barley, rye, legumes.

[igorkrejzek]

Thanks for a video, but you should also say, that the most unique and very important prebiotics are mushroooms like shitake, lions mane, porcini, oyster mushroom and many more...
also wild vegetable like chicory root, burdock, dandelion and others works perfect.. cheers from Prague..)

[Samus]

Love your personality! Upbeat smiles without being cheesy and your voice sounds natural and interesting. 😁

(I've been watching a bunch of related videos and you presented it best. Others sounded like they were reading, were under-enthused, or like they were selling something. 🤷‍♀️)

[zelmiracholevova]

Excellent fiber for regularity are sesame seeds + flax seeds.

[zipsteri]

The magic rule is the less you eat, the better you feel. Of course! You have to know what to eat. Pickled vegetables, raw sauerkraut, amla, nutritional yeast, pea protein, lots of beans and legumes, and fibre of all sorts. etc. etc. Once a week, fast for 16 hours and drink a glass of warm water with 1/2 tsp. of amla powder in it to break the fast. Good luck.

[sntsk]

FOS: Asparagus, garlic, onions, beets, bananas, tomatoes, wheat, barley and rye
GOS: Legumes like chickpeas and lentils
Others: Berries and turmeric

You're welcome

[melmo]

One of the most common misquotes. It's actually "Survival of the best adapted".

[arlenegojocco]

Excellent video! Clear points on what is and what is not! Extremely important info to learn which no one should miss!

[OswaldDigestiveClinic]

Thanks for sharing! We love talking about how you can change your gut microbiome in just 2 days by changing what you eat!

[abhaadhikari]

What a great thing I learnt today about probiotics and prebiotics very useful!

[michaelt]

Great video. But what about people on carnivore diet. They don’t eat veggies and they evidently have a diverse micro biome. They would say fiber and plant based prebiotics are totally unnecessary. What nourishes their gut bacteria ?

[kellysmith]

I love birds. and your videos! very informative, concise, nice visuals and editing. Im trying to learn as much as I can about nutrition because I realized Ive never put much thought into what I put into my body.

[tasal]

Great video, great presenter, great information. Wow I love this video

[NoMoeMistaNiceGuy]

Future of fast foods. Places like McDonald's will have the infrastructure in place to serve healthy cost effective meals.

[littlevoice_]

Anorher reason why antibiotics can be so damaging

[JHALAKLIFESTYLEJYOTISH]

Good Dr comprehensive and clearly explained. Be blessed, keep it up 🌺🌺🌺

[hairlong]

Thank you. Finally someone with practical information.

[sharlenepage]

Hmmm, I wonder why we didn't use to have all these intestinal issues 🤔?

[gladysesquivel]

Thanks so much for this video.
The best so far👍 I understand now the difference of pre- and pro biotics🥰😍
This is very important video for me😊

[saracurio]

very good video! much more informative than most youtube videos