Food Industry Is Focusing Greater Attention On Nourishing The Good Bacteria In Human Gut

About 80 percent of the cells that inhabit the human body consist of beneficial bacteria. A growing trend in nutrition and health is a focus on prebiotics – indigestible food ingredients that nourish the friendly bacteria among the estimated 100 trillion microbes living inside the human gut. Natural sources of prebiotics such as inulin include wheat, onions and garlic. But there are more, and many more on the way. Prebiotics are gaining a greater foothold in the U.S. and European food industries because of a major advantage: they do not require refrigeration and can be incorporated into a wide range of foods. Researchers are finding ways to make prebiotics from plant carbohydrates like pectins, mannans and xylans.