Goodgut Blog The Expanding Definition of Prebiotics

In the last year, there has been a lot of new attention to the prebiotic effects of polyphenols, which for us at Greenteaspoon has been great to see. However, research alluding to their prebiotic benefits goes back to at least 1990, when the first research papers were published demonstrating the positive effect that polyphenols have on probiotics. So what has changed? By applying recent developments in DNA sequencing, it is now clear to researchers that polyphenols have a profound effect on the types of bacteria that make up your gut microbiome. What has researchers most excited is that these changes in the makeup of the bacteria are closely linked to reduced symptoms of digestive distress and significantly lower levels of body-wide inflammation, which plays a major role in most of the common chronic diseases faced by humans today. What is it about polyphenols that makes them prebiotic? Polyphenols are a class of natural self-defense compounds produced by plants that have long been associated with good health in humans. While most of the early clinical research was focused on their potential to act as antioxidants, this potential explanation for how they benefit us has never gained traction among the medical community, largely because of the fact that approximately 98% of the polyphenols we eat cannot be absorbed by the body, so they never leave the digestive tract. However, the past decade has seen an increasing amount of research exploring the health benefits of polyphenols To learn more about polyphenols and the research that has taken place over the last 30 years, here's a list of scientific journal articles outlining their prebiotic effects.  Evidence for the Development of Polyphenol-Based Prebiotics (Bibliography)  Effect of Green Tea Extract on Growth of Intestinal Bacteria (1990) http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/08910609009140256 The influence of tea catechins on fecal flora of elderly residents in long-term care facilities (1998) In vivo effects of tea polyphenol intake on human intestinal microflora and metabolism (1992) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bbb1992/56/4/56_4_588/_article Selective Growth Responses of Human Intestinal Bacteria to Araliaceae (ginseng) (1992) http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/08910609009141546 Selective Responses of ThreeGinkgo bilobaLeaf-Derived Constituents on Human Intestinal Bacteria (2002) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf011140a A polyphenol-rich cranberry extract protects from diet-induced obesity, insulin resistance and intestinal inflammation in association with increased Akkermansia spp. population in the gut microbiota of mice (2014) http://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2014/07/30/gutjnl-2014-307142.short Effect of cranberry juice intake on human gut microbial community and urinary metabolites in a randomized, placebo-controlled intervention (2010) http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/24/1_MeetingAbstracts/720.3 Polyphenol-rich extract of pomegranate peel alleviates tissue inflammation and hypercholesterolaemia in high-fat diet-induced obese mice: potential implication of the gut microbiota (2013)  http://www.uclouvain.be/cps/ucl/doc/ir-ldri/images/NeyrinckBrJNutr.pdf The influence of pomegranate by-product and punicalagins on selected groups of human intestinal microbiota (2010) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168160510001819 Lowbush Wild Blueberries Have the Potential to Modify Gut Microbiota and Xenobiotic Metabolism in the Rat Colon (2013) http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0067497 Six-Week Consumption of a Wild Blueberry Powder Drink Increases Bifidobacteria in the Human Gut (2011) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf2028686 Intake of Blueberry Fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum Affects the Gut Microbiota of hypertension-induced (L-NAME Treated) Rats (2013)        http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/809128/ Green tea powder and Lactobacillus plantarum affect gut microbiota, lipid metabolism and inflammation in high-fat fed C57BL/6J mice (2012) http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-9-105.pdf Effect of tea phenolics and their aromatic fecal bacterial metabolites on intestinal microbiota (2006) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923250806001525 Metabolism of anthocyanins by human gut microflora and their influence on gut bacterial growth (2012) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf3002153 Flavanol monomer-induced changes to the human fecal microflora (2008)  http://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/4150188.pdf Prebiotic evaluation of cocoa-derived flavanols in healthy humans by using a randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover intervention study (2011) http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/93/1/62.full Influence of red wine polyphenols and ethanol on the gut microbiota ecology and biochemical biomarker (2012) http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/95/6/1323.short Effect of tea phenolics and their aromatic fecal bacterial metabolites on intestinal microbiota (2006) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923250806001525 Effects of green tea consumption on human fecal microbiota with special reference to Bifidobacterium species (2012) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1348-0421.2012.00502.x/full Improvement of intestinal microflora balance and prevention of digestive and respiratory organ diseases in calves by green tea extracts (2001) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301622600002335 Impact of polyphenols from black tea and red wine/grape juice on a gut model microbiome (2013) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963996913000616 Carbohydrate-Free Peach (Prunus persica) and Plum (Prunus domestica) Juice Affects Fecal Microbial Ecology in an Obese Animal Model (2014) http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101723 Physiological Effects of Extraction Juices from Apple, Grape, and Red Beet Pomaces in Rats (2006) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf0618168 Effect of Flavan-3-ols on the Adhesion of Potential Probiotic Lactobacilli to Intestinal Cells (2012) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf301133g