Prebiotics used to be easy to define: they were the fibers we couldnāt digest, but our microbes could.
Today that story is getting a serious upgrade. We still have the classics like inulin, FOS, GOS, and resistant starch, but we now know that nonāfiber compounds (especially polyphenols from foods like cocoa, berries, and tea) can exert prebioticālike effects by influencing which microbes thrive and which metabolites they produce.
ā”ļø This isnāt just a scientific nuance; itās driving a major shift in the health economy.
The global prebiotics category is already a multibillionādollar market and is forecast to keep growing as brands and consumers move beyond āprobiotic countsā toward āfeeding the microbiomeā as a core strategy.
Weāre seeing prebiotic ingredients migrate from the usual suspects (functional foods and dietary supplements) into beverages, shots, bars, kidsā products, and even beautyāfromāwithin and sports formulations.
In the PDF Post that follows (click link to access the post on LinkedIN), Iāve highlighted 10 of the top prebiotics and prebioticālike compounds, the microbes they tend to favor, and a key primary paper for eachā¦so you can see how diverse āprebioticsā have become, and where product and clinical opportunities might be hiding in plain sight:
10 Top Prebiotics š« šæ š
