Prebiotics
Prebiotics
There are several definitions of what a prebiotic is. What it isn't is a live microbe. It isn't a probiotic. A prebiotic promotes the growth of our gut microbes. I like to call prebiotics, colon foods. Most of our gut microbiota, live in the large intestine, in the colon.
This means that the colon is the seat of power for our intestinal tracts and a happy colon equals happy health.
Prebiotics help to keep our colon cells healthy and tightly packed together. Prebiotics help to maintain healthy junctions between cells, called tight junctions or gap junctions. Having healthy colon cells then helps to create the right environment for our gut microbiota to thrive.
Prebiotic categories
There are many different foods that fall into the category of a prebiotic. I have put them into five categories including:
- Spices
- Tuberous vegetables
- Brassica vegetables
- Mushrooms
- Beans
Having a healthy mix of these five categories in your diet will help to ensure healthy colon cells, a diverse range of gut microbiota, reduced low grade chronic inflammation and better health.
BOB
Prebiotics promote gut microbes to release ketone bodies. If you have worked through the Sugars talk on Fasting, you will know that BOB is a ketone body that stands for Beta-hydroxybutyrate. BOB helps:
- Mitochondria to produce energy
- Feeds brain cells
- Reduces insulin resistance
Fermented prebiotics
Fermenting prebiotic foods seems to greatly boost their efficacy. For example, Vitamin U found in fermented cabbage has anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to help in the management of stomach ulcers.
Conclusion
An overabundance of corn during this period, meant that it was fed to cattle and poultry and promoted as healthy. Corn was made into high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is sweeter than normal table sugar (sucrose). It is also highly reactive within the body causing inflammation and combing with proteins to form advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). AGEs are the culprits in premature ageing, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. They destroy fat cells and cause them to hoard cholesterol.
