What is prebiotic fibre?
Prebiotic fibre is the indigestible portion of the plants we eat. These indigestible plant fibres are actually food for our healthy gut bacteria. Prebiotic fibre contains vitamins and nutrients that healthy probiotic bacteria need to keep them happy and well fed. Probiotic gut bacteria also use prebiotic fibre to produce fuel (Short Chain Fatty Acids – the superstars of our gut microbiome) for our intestinal cells.
The best way to create a healthy, diverse and, thereby, robust gut microbiome is to eat a wide variety of prebiotic fibre rich foods. This produces an ecosystem that is anti-inflammatory. The more healthy gut microbes we have in our gut ensures a more responsive immune system, mood stability, improves gut barrier integrity (repairs leaky gut syndrome) and keeps the numbers of bad bacteria to a minimum.
Try to include loads of prebiotic fibre in your diet with lots of colour and lots of variety. There are different types of prebiotic fibre which feed different types of healthy gut bacteria, it’s all about diversity. The following list details the different types of prebiotic fibre rich foods. Enjoy!
Polyphenol-Rich Foods:
Fruits
Blueberries, black currants
Cherries, strawberries, blackberries, plums, raspberries, red apples, black grapes
Nuts & Seeds
Flaxseed meal, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans
Vegetables
Purple carrots, red carrots, purple/red potatoes, red cabbage, spinach, red onions, broccoli, carrots (orange), red lettuce
Grains
Red rice, black rice, whole grain rye bread (sourdough)
Other
Black olives & olive oil
Prebiotic-Rich Foods:
Consume foods rich in fructooligosaccharides/inulin (FOS) and glactooligosaccharides (GOS)
FOS
Jerusalem artichokes, dandelion roots, garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, globe artichokes
GOS
Legumes; Brassica family vegetables e.g. cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, bok choy, collards; fresh beans, beetroot
Other
Brown rice, carrots, almonds (raw with skins), black currants
Resistant Starch-Rich Foods:
Legumes e.g. red lentils, kidney beans, adzuki beans, black beans, chickpeas
Bananas (the less ripe the higher the RS content)
Potatoes – cooked and cooled (roasted or steamed)
Sweet potato
Rye bread
Oats (higher amounts in uncooked oats) & cashews