Best prebiotic foods list

Hi everyone,

Following on from my previous posts on prebiotics, today I am going to provide you with  the practical information you need to be able to reach your daily prebiotic intake requirements.

Today we will cover:

  • Prebiotic consumption patterns – past and present
  • Prebiotic levels within commonly consumed foods
  • Foods enhanced with prebiotics and prebiotic supplements to help you reach your daily target (I will even fill you in on my own, dietitian created, prebiotic supplement, Uplift Food.
sugar free bliss ball prebiotic fibre

Prebiotic bliss balls

 

Overall consumption levels of prebiotics:

It is interesting to note that studies have suggested that typical adult male hunter-foragers had consumed around 135g / day of inulin;

This is in comparison to more recent estimates that show consumption patters in the Western world to be between 2-11g / day.

The decrease in noted consumption may be a result of the increasingly refined versions of foods that are being created nowadays.

kangaroo meat and prebiotic fibre travelling dietitian

Would need to eat a VERY large portion of vegetables to get back up to the previous levels of prebiotic fibres that were consuming in the past.

 

Food sources of prebiotics:

There are many lists around the internet sharing the top prebiotic rich foods, however what we often dont realise is just how much of them we need to eat in order to obtain the recommended 5-20g of prebiotics per day.

Including a quarter of a cooked onion and a couple of cooked garlics, although imparting more benefit than not consuming them at all, does not bring us anywhere near to the recommended intake of prebiotics per day.

With many people following lower carbohydrate diets, removing resistant starch rich legumes and lentils from their diets, or simply not consuming enough of the prebiotic rich foods, it is no wonder intakes these days are well below the suggested.

 

prebiotic fiber nutritional facts

Ref: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/129/7/1407S.full.pdf+html

As you can see, if you were trying to hit up at the higher end of the recommended spectrum (at 20g per day), unless you were consuming bowls of chicory root and dandelion greens, it may seem unreachable.

For most, starting at the lower end, and building up a tolerance through natural food sources, would be ideal.

For those that are wanting some assistance to reach the prebiotic quota, or are needing a different option due to specific tolerability issues, some of the suggestions in the following section may be suitable.

bliss balls prebiotics lupin and vitafiber

bliss balls made using prebiotic Vitafiber and lupin flakes

 

Foods enhanced with prebiotics and prebiotic supplements to help you reach your daily target.

These days you will see lots of products promoting their gut healthy nutrients, with a predominant emphasis on probiotics.

This however is starting to shift as the science continues to strengthen the case for the absolute need for us to consume prebiotics in order to keep the probiotic strains we consume, or that we already have in our body’s alive and flourishing.

Uplift Food Daily Uplifter - The best prebiotic fibre and resistant starch food product.

Uplift Food Daily Uplifter – The best prebiotic fibre and resistant starch food product I created myself for you!

Some of the most common prebiotic products that are on the market already include:

  • Acacia powder
  • Yacon syrup
  • VitaFiber – found as a syrup or powder, and used in a lot of high protein bars
  • Chicory root fibre found in many high fibre or low sugar products (e.g no added sugar ice-creams, yoghurts and plant based milk products)
  • Tigernuts and tigernut based products
  • Lupin beans and lupin flour
  • Potato starch (resistant starch)
  • Burdock root (in Australia)
  • Spirulina and other marine algae (has a prebiotic effect)
  • Green banana flour (resistant starch) found inside Uplift Food
  • Jerusalem artichoke (prebiotic inulin) found inside Uplift Food
Natural evolution foods green banana flour resistant starch

Green banana flour resistant starch

This list is not exhaustive, and there are definitely more options on the market, however this can act as a starting block for you when looking at product ingredients lists, and determining whether or not they may be able to provide you with a source of prebiotics.

I have many recipes on the site which can help you feel confident to utilise some of these ingredients such as:

Gut strengthening pumpkin protein muffins 

High protein banana prebiotic pancakes

banana prebiotic pancake

Green banana flour prebiotic pancake

Sugar free pancake syrup

Sugar free pancake syrup made using prebiotic VitaFiber

Sugar free pancake syrup made using prebiotic VitaFiber

Sugar free hemp and coconut tahini bliss balls

and many more, just check out the recipes section!

prebiotic fiber recipe

Probiotic and prebiotic recipe by Travelling Dietitian

 

If you are wanting to get your daily dose of prebiotics in one tasty, convenient, and simple powdered form – I’m proud to point you in the direction of Uplift Food – Daily Uplifter – the best prebiotic supplement, I created myself as an expert prebiotic dietitian, for you!

Uplift Food - Daily Uplifter (US) Front of Pack copy

You can even make a delicious recipe such as this gut healthy protein cookie crumble breakfast parfait using Uplift Food – Daily Uplifter….YUM!

Uplift Food Best Prebiotic Supplement Australia

Uplift Food – Prebiotic Supplement 

I hope this post have proven enlightening yet again,

If you want to read up more on prebiotics and why they are so beneficial for your health, make sure to check out all these posts, and make sure you share this information with anyone you know that could benefit from this 🙂

Until next time,

TD x

 

About The Author

Kara Landau aka "Travelling Dietitian" is an Australian Accredited Practicing Dietitian based in NYC. She is a world explorer, healthy foodie, social butterfly, barre and HIIT class lover. When she isn't trying new cuisines, researching new product innovations in the health food space, or speaking to the media on behalf of her food industry clients, she can be found quietly conjuring up her next idea on how to make this world a healthier and better place.

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