Jacksonville's Neighborhood Garden

A primer on prebiotics, probiotics and produce

The Doctor's Office

Our bodies contain an estimated 10 times as many microorganisms as human cells. These microorganisms make up a "microbiome" which is unique to each individual.  For a great overview of this concept check out this entertaining video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM

There is a lot of interest in probiotics these days and for good reason.  Probiotics are bacteria or yeast that are thought to be beneficial to our health and are most commonly used to counteract the depletion of good bacteria caused by antibiotic use.  Many capsules and yogurt products are marketed to us, but do they actually provide a benefit?  While little has been proven as to the benefits of probiotics, a lot has been learned thanks to an explosion of research on the human microbiome, the collection of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live on us or in us.

The largest reservoir of these microorganisms is in our gut, specifically the colon which is estimated to contain over 100 trillion microbes.  These microbes metabolize, detoxify and activate crucial components of our diet and therefore are very important to many aspects of our health.  Scientists have started to make connections between our colonic microbes and our immune function, allergies, asthma, anxiety and obesity.  This may seem far fetched, but it is more believable when we understand that the gut houses an estimated 70% of the immune system and as many nerves as the spinal cord!  While at first glance this seems bizarre, it stands to reason when we consider that the gut is the biggest interface we have with the outside environment, even more so than our skin!

So what does this have to do with the produce bag this week?   As it turns out, the diet we eat can drastically affect our microbiome, and the effects occur rapidly.  Researchers demonstrated drastic changes in subjects' microbiome in as little as 4 days when consuming either a vegetarian diet or an entirely animal product diet.   In this short time, bacterial composition in the colon seemed to be completely altered.  This gives us great hope that we can improve our own microbiome, and hopefully our health with the diet we eat.  Probiotic tablets may have a role, but they can be expensive and cumbersome.  Therefore a dietary pattern that promotes health is obviously very attractive.

While probiotic tablets and food contain active bacteria or yeast that we want to colonize our gut (set up shop), they must survive the stomach acid and passage to the colon where they must then attach to the lining of the gut.  This is a considerable challenge, but there are non-digestible or partially digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon and these can be taken with the probiotic or by themselves to promote a healthier microbiome.  Inulin and fructo-oligosacharides are an important class of these "prebiotic" nutrients as they pass through the small intestine to the colon where they stimulate the growth of bifida bacteria and other beneficial micro-organisms.  This week's produce bag contains some great sources of these powerful prebiotics, such as bananas and kale.  Yet another reason you can take satisfaction from fueling your family with the very best foods available!