Health benefits of prebiotics and where to find them [infographic]

Americans don’t eat enough fiber. Our once-varied microbiomes (colonies of thousands of different bacterial strains in the gut) are at risk of losing bacteria vital to our survival — and that of our descendants.

Bacteria are living organisms, which means they have to eat. One way to enhance beneficial flora is to provide nutrition for them, in the form of prebiotics. By giving bacteria the food they like, we help them grow and maintain their balance in our digestive tract.

You can take a prebiotic supplement to help feed your microbiome, but you can also choose delicious high-fiber whole foods. However you choose to nurture your gut — just be sure you do it. Your health could depend on it.

For more information on the benefits of prebiotics, check out the following articles:

End your junk food cravings with this one thing

Have you ever thought about how much easier life would be if you could just turn off your cravings for pizza, candy, cake and other foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients? You can with a single…

Can prebiotics cure your lactose intolerance?

If you’re lactose intolerant, you’ve probably already resigned yourself to a life free of dairy products — no milk, no yogurt, no cheese. But what if you could add dairy back to your diet without paying any gastrointestinal consequences?

The bacteria that save your digestion and your health

If your digestion is on the blink, your problem may be a lack of probiotic bacteria in your intestines. Here are natural ways to revive the microscopic lifesavers in your gut that researchers believe can help you resist disease, breathe better and keep your weight down and may even keep your memory stronger.

The anti-aging intervention that starts in your gut

You might look in the mirror and notice a few new lines appearing on your face. You might also notice you have a little less energy. We’d rather not experience these things, but they are the inevitable signs of aging… It would be great to slow the interior and exterior aging process. Well, it seems you can…

Could fiber be the end of the human race?

What are prebiotics? They’re different from probiotics, though many people just assume they’re pretty much the same thing. Both provide beneficial actions in the gut, but it’s not a matter of getting enough of ‘either or.’ It may, however, be a matter of the future of mankind.