Prebiotics

Message 09/08/06:
Can you tell me which carbohydrates constitute "Prebiotics" and how these stimulate the growth of "good" bacteria?
Thanks

Reply 10/08/06:

Many thanks for your email.
Prebiotics are defined as non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, that can improve the host's health. There is good evidence supporting the use of inulin, fructo-oligosaccharide and acacia gum as prebiotics. These complex carbohydrates generally reach the human colon intact because humans lack the required digestive enzymes to break the particular chemical bonds in these carbohydrates. In the colon there are typically many different species of bacteria. Some have a positive effect on human health (i.e. the friendly bacteria), some have a negative effect and others are neutral. Bifidobacteria is an example of the friendly bacteria. The friendly bacteria, like bifidobacteria, posses an enzyme that enables them to digest prebiotic substances such as inulin. The prebiotic substances are carefully selected as those for which the bad bacteria lack enzymes to digest but the good bacteria do i.e. they are food for the good bacteria but useless to the bad bacteria. Thus, by consuming prebiotics, the good bacteria in the colon flourish, generally at the expense of the bad bacteria.
Hope this helps and thank you again for taking the time to contact us.