Feed your gut: the prebiotic plate

Probiotics get all the attention, but your gut bacteria need feeding too. Prebiotics are their actual food.

Prebiotics, simply

Prebiotics are fibres and compounds that you cannot digest but your gut bacteria can. They are the food that keeps a good microbiome fed and busy. There is not much point seeding a garden you never water, and prebiotics are the water.

Where to find them

The good news is that prebiotics live in ordinary food, not in a supplement aisle. Onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, slightly-green bananas, oats, barley, apples, chicory, Jerusalem artichokes and legumes are all rich sources. Chances are some are already in your kitchen.

The simplest rule

If you remember one thing, make it this: eat a wide variety of plants across the week. Different fibres feed different microbes, so variety does more than any single food, however fashionable it is.

Prebiotic and probiotic, together

Live fermented food gives you the microbes. Fibre-rich plants give those microbes something to eat. Put them together and you have the combination your gut likes best. A bowl of grains and vegetables with a forkful of kimchi on top is, quietly, a nearly complete gut meal.

You do not need a special diet. Just more plants, more often, and a little fibre alongside your ferments.