Browse the aisles of any health food store or drugstore,
and you are likely to find prebiotic supplements. They are packaged as powders,
gummies, pills, and drinks and claim to improve digestion, boost the immune
system, lower blood sugar, and more.
اضافة اعلان
According to
Grand View Research, a market research
firm, the prebiotics market is projected to grow about 15 percent each year from
2022 to 2030 — in part because of rising concerns among consumers about gut
issues like constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, and
inflammatory bowel disease.
But what exactly are prebiotics? And do you need to
take them for good health?
What are prebiotics?
People frequently confuse
prebiotics with probiotics — the live microorganisms found in foods like kimchi
and some yogurts as well as in supplements that are intended to benefit health.
But prebiotics are substances that promote the growth
of beneficial microbes in the gut. They can be found in fiber-rich foods like
green bananas, asparagus, artichokes, garlic, onions, barley, and wheat bran.
Justin L. Sonnenburg, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford
University, said that prebiotic supplements typically contain purified types of
dietary fiber that humans cannot digest.
The main purpose of prebiotics is to feed the
diverse mix of beneficial bacteria that the gut needs to thrive, Sonnenburg
said. A flourishing microbiome has been associated with various health
benefits, including reduced risks of certain conditions like diabetes and
obesity.
Gail Cresci, a microbiome researcher in pediatric
gastroenterology at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, said that prebiotic
and probiotic supplements are sometimes packaged together into one supplement.
And some types of fiber supplements are also considered prebiotics, Sonnenburg
said.
Do prebiotics help your gut?
A number of small studies
have found that prebiotics — in supplemental and food form — are associated
with regulating gut inflammation, alleviating constipation, and supporting
overall digestive health. But there is less research on prebiotics than there
is on probiotics in general, and their findings have been mixed and limited.
More research is needed, Sonnenburg said.
In one 2018 trial of 44 people with certain
gastrointestinal disorders that caused flatulence, for instance, researchers
investigated how taking a prebiotic supplement helped to reduce symptoms in
comparison with following a low-FODMAP diet. After four weeks, both methods
were equally effective.
There is some evidence to suggest that prebiotic
supplements may help with constipation by encouraging more regular, frequent,
and well-formed bowel movements, Cresci said. Indeed, if you are constipated,
prebiotics could induce a laxative effect, said Kelly Swanson, a professor of
animal and nutritional sciences at the
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
There is also preliminary research suggesting that
prebiotics might help strengthen the immune system, Swanson added, but that
evidence is inconclusive. He said, however, that he had researched how specific
prebiotics might affect the abundance and activity of microbes in the
intestinal microbiome and that prebiotics “clearly modify” the bacteria in our
gut in beneficial ways.
Dr Reezwana Chowdhury, an assistant professor of
medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said that she is not aware of any data
showing significant dangers associated with taking prebiotic supplements. But
there also is not enough evidence showing that prebiotics are beneficial when
treating conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or diarrhea, she said.
If you do decide to try them, these supplements are
generally safe and typically have few side effects, Swanson said. He noted that
some people might experience more flatulence and loose stools after taking
them, especially if the prebiotics are taken in higher-than-recommended
amounts. To minimize that risk, Swanson suggested taking no more than five
grams per day.
And do not expect the supplement to transform your
gut radically, Cresci said. “The prebiotic is not going to save the day from a
bad diet,” she said. “There’s no magic bullet for that.”
What can you do instead of taking a prebiotic?
When it comes to nourishing
the good bacteria in your gut, Sonnenburg said, following a fiber-rich diet
with plenty of fruits and vegetables will likely be better for you.
This does not mean you have to eat a pound of
asparagus every day for good health, Swanson said. But making a point to eat
bananas throughout the week, he said, or swapping sugary breakfast pastries for
healthier choices like oatmeal topped with nuts and berries, will help the good
bacteria in your gut thrive.
Adding more fiber into your diet, which evidence
suggests the average person in the
United States could benefit from doing, will
give you many of the same benefits of prebiotics, Sonnenburg said, since fiber
stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria in your intestine. The American
Heart Association recommends that most people get at least 25 to 30 grams of
dietary fiber per day.
To meet that goal, experts from the University of
California, San Francisco, recommend aiming for at least five servings of
fruits and vegetables each day and including at least one serving of whole
grains in every meal.
You can boost your fiber intake by adding lentils
and legumes to soups and salads or whipping chia seeds into smoothies. You can
also make some intentional swaps in your diet: Substitute brown rice for white
rice and, when buying cereal, choose a product with at least five grams of
fiber per serving. These alterations could have a more transformative effect on
your gut than reaching for a prebiotic.
“Very few things are solved just by popping a pill,” Swanson
said.
Read more Health
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
