There are many ways to maintain healthy bacteria in your intestinal tract: Drinking acidophilus milk, eating yogurt with live bacterial cultures or taking a nutritional supplement containing friendly bacteria. However, there is a lesser-known way that you can regulate digestive system and maintain healthy bacteria in your intestines: by helping the bacteria sustain itself.
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) refer to a class of non-digestible carbohydrates that occur naturally in many foods throughout the plant kingdom. Because they are non-digestible, they pass through the intestines virtually unchanged. When FOS reach the colon, the friendly bacteria living there use them to grow and multiply, creating an optimal environment that encourages maximum absorption of nutrients in the body, along with healthy elimination of toxins.
Maintaining healthy levels of “good” bacteria in the colon is essential for optimum health. When you don’t have enough of the good bacteria, the “bad” bacteria can dominate, creating a condition called dysbiosis. Dysbiosis can lead to fatigue, headaches, poor concentration, irritable bowel syndrome and many other problems. FOS give good bacteria the upper hand against these problems and help you feel your best.
FOS are included in many pro-biotic nutritional supplements found in health food stores. They are also available as stand-alone nutritional supplements, often in the form of inulin (FOS are formed by inulin degradation). Inulin-rich plants such as chicory, Jerusalem artichokes, onion, jicama, leeks and asparagus are also good sources of FOS.