Prebiotics And Prebiotic Food Myths

By Author: Frank W. Jackson, MD
Total Articles: 3
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Americans get most of their prebiotics from wheat and onions - about 2 grams a day. That's great, but far below the 4-8g that most experts recommend. Why? Because wheat and onion are lousy sources of prebiotic fiber, and the American diet doesn't include most of the better sources.

And yet we see it everywhere... "Get your prebiotics by eating healthy!" usually followed by references to artichokes, onions and bananas. Sometimes yogurt is mentioned too. This is done with good intention - we also like the idea of getting prebiotics from food. But it's absolutely lousy advice. Why? Because it buys into several myths and fallacies about prebiotics.

MYTH #1: Artichokes are a good source of prebiotics

Truth: Artichokes are a terrible source of prebiotics. We love 'em, but they have very little prebiotic fiber. It's a completely different plant - JERUSALEM artichokes- that has lots of prebiotic. Jerusalem artichoke shares nothing with the spiky green artichoke except a name. Jerusalem Artichoke is a plant whose tuberous roots have very high levels of prebiotic. But they are NOT regular artichokes... and honestly, ...
... we've never seen them for sale - even at organic, health-oriented markets.

MYTH #2: Bananas are a good source of prebiotics

Truth: Bananas are a lousy source of prebiotics. Bananas contain only about 1% prebiotic fiber by weight. By way of example, you would need to eat over a full pound of bananas every day, in order to get your prebiotic that way. If you ate a pound of bananas a day, you would be way, way, WAY over your daily carbs, calories & sugar intake and you'd probably pack on some serious pounds! Bottom line: bananas deliver too much sugar for too little prebiotic punch to be considered a good source.

MYTH #3: Garlic is a good source of prebiotics

Truth: Garlic is not a realistic source of prebiotics. Raw Garlic has decent levels of prebiotics, but we eat so little of it (and usually cooked-to-death), that it's not a realistic source. Raw Garlic is about 17.5% prebiotic by weight, which is actually about the 4th richest food source. But if we face the reality that few folks eat raw garlic, and if we do our math given that 1 clove of garlic is about 4grams, we find that we'd need to eat basically an entire bulb (12-16 cloves) of cooked garlic daily to get serious prebiotic intake that way. So on days you head to the Garlic Festival or eat dinner at The Stinking Rose restaurant, you're probably okay... The other 364 days a year, most folks ain't gonna get much prebiotic from garlic.

MYTH #4: Onions are a good source of prebiotics

Truth: Onion is a pretty bad source of prebiotics. Onion isn't that rich in prebiotics AND we don't eat enough of it to matter AND what we eat is usually cooked, which degrades what prebiotics are there. Cooked onion is about 5% prebiotics by weight, which isn't bad overall, but still means you need to eat about 1/4 pound of onion a day to make a real prebiotic dent. For reference, the average "normal" size onion weighs about 100 grams, and loses over half its weight when cooked. So you need to eat 2-3 onions worth of cooked onions a day on this one. Again, that bowl of French Onion Soup isn't gonna cut it unless you eat three bowls a meal, three meals a day...

MYTH #5: Wheat, asparagus, agave... are good sources of prebiotics.

Truth: Neither wheat, nor asparagus, nor agave are realistic sources of prebiotics. All of these have less then onions - about 5% when raw, less when cooked. It's the same old story. You're unlikely to eat enough of them to make a real impact, and (especially with wheat) even if you do, you'll be overloading on other undesirables like excess carbs. And we don't want to be anywhere NEAR you in the bathroom if you eat that much asparagus!

MYTH #6: It's possible to get enough prebiotics from a healthy diet.

Truth: "Healthy Diet" alone isn't enough, though the sentiment is correct: You certainly CAN get enough prebiotics from diet IF you pay very close attention specifically to prebiotics, not just a generally "healthy" diet. The foods you can eat that deliver a significant prebiotic punch without excess calories, carbs, sugar, etc. are: Raw Chicory Root, Raw Dandelion Greens, Raw Jicama. Raw Leeks are also an okay source. You need to eat about 2 oz. daily (1/4 lb. if cooked) to get a real prebiotic punch from them.

MYTH #7: Yogurt is a good source of prebiotics.

Truth: Yogurt has no prebiotics, this is mostly folks confusing the Probiotic Bacteria yogurt does have with Prebiotic Fiber (though Yogurt is also questionable on the probiotics front, frankly). We are aware of a couple yogurt brands that ADD prebiotic fiber to the yogurt, but it's not a natural element of yogurt. Oh yeah - by the way - guess who they buy the prebiotics from to add to the mix!

Conclusion: Far too many folks in blogs, wikipedia, columns, etc. perpetuate these myths. Over and over we hear "just eat a healthy diet with some bananas, onions and artichokes once in a while and you'll get enough prebiotics." It's at best inaccurate and at worst simply wrong.

Getting enough prebiotics by diet alone is certainly doable. And I'll confess to having liked Dandelion Greens since I was a kid... But not enough to eat a mess of 'em every day. Chicory Root, Jerusalem Artichoke and Jicama all taste like wet rags to me.

Frankly, I DO eat a very healthy, plant-driven high fiber diet. But for me, I'm sticking to my daily teaspoon of easy-peasy-dissolves easily Prebiotic Fiber Supplement (http://www.prebiotin.com), thanks! That way I know I'm getting enough prebiotics.

NOTE: prebiotic content of foods was taken from an article in The Journal of Nutrition, a peer-reviewed medical journal. Learn more about prebiotics and their benefits at http://www.prebiotin.com.
Frank W. Jackson, MD is the founder of Jackson GI Medical which creates, manufactures and sells medically-credible, science-based dietary supplements.