If you’re what you eat, then you’re additionally what your intestine micro organism eat: Each time you chow down on a juicy burger or crunch on a kale salad, you’re additionally passing gasoline their method. However identical to people, these microbes don’t all have the identical meals preferences. Probiotics (a.okay.a. the great micro organism in your physique), specifically, crave prebiotics, or particular compounds present in a wide range of fiber-rich meals. The extra of them you eat, the extra these helpful bugs can flourish—which solely means good issues for you, their beneficiant host.

Actually, that optimistic impact is within the definition of a prebiotic, which was revised in 2016 by the Worldwide Scientific Affiliation for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) to be “a substrate that’s selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a well being profit.” That substance is normally a sort of fiber—as a result of fiber cannot be digested effectively by your abdomen, it might probably make it to your colon largely unscathed, the place your probiotics can take pleasure in it. However science is now discovering that different vitamins, just like the polyphenols (a kind of antioxidant) in cacao, may additionally have prebiotic-like results, Vanessa King, MS, RDN, Honolulu-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Vitamin and Dietetics, tells SELF.

As soon as your good intestine micro organism get ahold of prebiotics, they’ll proliferate, which leaves your colon teeming with supportive microbes—and retains the unhealthy micro organism (their disease-promoting nemeses) at bay, King says. The consequence? A various, balanced microbiome.

Learn on to be taught all the explanations you ought to be feeding your intestine flora a hearty dose of prebiotic-rich meals, an inventory of one of the best ones, and learn how to work them into your weight loss plan.

Why are prebiotics so good for you?

These substances set off a helpful ripple impact: When probiotics ferment prebiotics, they create short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), that are essential for the well being of the cells lining your GI tract, Gail Hecht, MD, Chicago-based gastroenterologist and medical knowledgeable at Wonderbelly, tells SELF. When that intestinal barrier is robust, fewer pathogens out of your intestine can seep via it and infect your physique—that means, your immune system may have much less to cope with.

SCFAs may additionally tamp down irritation in your intestine, which is linked with a decrease danger of sure continual situations, like sort 2 diabetes or most cancers. For a similar motive, prebiotics could assist in decreasing signs in people with inflammatory bowel ailments like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

Within the shorter time period, consuming extra prebiotics may enable you poop extra commonly and comfortably—once more, they’re sometimes a type of fiber, which helps transfer issues alongside, Cara Harbstreet, RDN, Kansas Metropolis–based mostly registered dietitian and proprietor of Road Good Vitamin, tells SELF. In an identical realm, prebiotic-rich meals can hold you feeling full for longer and regulate your blood sugar post-meal, King provides.

What number of prebiotics do you have to intention to eat?

There isn’t a common dietary guideline for prebiotics (and portions aren’t labeled on meals merchandise), however based mostly on evolving analysis, ISAPP suggests a goal of 5 grams per day to reap the advantages. For the typical particular person, aiming for the USDA benchmark of roughly 28 grams of fiber a day is a straightforward technique to hit that prebiotic quota (after which some). Nevertheless it’s price noting that almost all People are getting roughly half the fiber they need to be consuming, Harbstreet says, so there’s a great probability you may gain advantage from some extra roughage in your life.