iAM Health-Prebiotic fiber explained

1. Prebiotic Fiber Explained: What Feeds Your Gut and What Doesn’t Understanding which everyday foods nourish gut bacteria and which ones don’t.

2. Your Gut is Shaped by What you Repeat Daily patterns influence: Gut bacteria don’t respond to occasional healthy meals. They respond to what you eat consistently. • Digestion • Microbial diversity • Gut lining strength • Metabolic balance

3. What is Prebiotic Fiber? In this Guide we will cover Prebiotic Fibre in detail: Prebiotic fiber is the part of plant foods your body cannot digest. It reaches the colon, where beneficial gut bacteria use it as fuel. • Prebiotic Vs Probiotic Fiber • What Feeds your Gut Vs What Doesn't • Foods that Nourish Gut Bacteria • What Makes a Balanced Asian Meal Plate

4. Prebiotic vs Probiotic Fiber Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria, present in yoghurt, curd, kimchi, tempeh. Prebiotics are the food these bacteria depend on, e.g. plant fibers, resistant starch. Without prebiotic fiber, probiotics don’t remain active for long.

5. Gut bacteria thrive when exposed to: What Truly Feeds Your Gut • Regular plant fiber • Diverse food sources • Minimally processed meals • Consistent eating routines Consistency feeds microbes more than extremes.

6. Everyday foods that nourish your Gut Bacteria Common Gut-friendly foods across Asian diets include: • Lentils, beans, legumes • Tofu, tempeh, fermented soy • Bananas, papaya, guava • Leafy greens, gourds, cabbage • Oats, millets, brown/red rice Gut health is built from familiar foods, not specialty products.

7. Rice • Potatoes • Green bananas • Whole grains Resistant starch: A Key Gut Fuel Resistant starch forms when certain foods are cooked and cooled. For example: They support bacteria that help maintain the gut lining.

8. What does NOT Feed Your Gut Foods low in usable fiber for microbes: • Refined grain-heavy diets • Ultra-processed snacks • Sugary packaged foods • Fiber-added processed products They provide calories but limited nourishment for gut bacteria.

9. When your Gut May Not be Getting Enough Prebiotic Fiber Possible lifestyle signals include: • Frequent bloating • Irregular digestion • Heavy post-meal feeling • Repetitive, low-variety meals Often reflects dietary patterns, not illness. Alongside improving food diversity, some people use prebiotic fiber support like Fiber+++ to help bridge daily gaps.

10. Building Meals that Feed Gut Bacteria Here's a Practical Daily Structure: • Include legumes or soy foods regularly • Add vegetables to most meals • Rotate grains instead of repeating one staple • Include whole fruits routinely

11. Recommended Proportions (for a 10-inch plate) • A quarter plate of wholegrains • A quarter plate of good proteins • Half a plate of fruits and vegetables (Source: https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/nutrition-hub/eat-more)

12. What a Gut-friendly Balanced Asian Meal Looks Like Base (complex carbohydrates) Brown rice, red rice, mixed-grain rice, basmati, parboiled rice, or oats (occasionally noodles made from whole wheat or rice) Fermented or cultured foods Tempeh, taucu (fermented soy), yogurt/curd, miso-based soups, pickled vegetables (Optional and portion-controlled) Protein Lentils (dal), chickpeas, mung beans, tofu, tempeh Optional additions: eggs, ikan kembung (mackerel), sardines or steamed fish Fruit across the day (not all at once) Papaya, banana, guava, pineapple, apple This combination provides multiple fiber types and natural microbial support. Vegetables Leafy greens such as kangkong, bayam, chye sim, kai lan Plus one other vegetable like lady’s finger, cabbage, carrots or bitter gourd

13. The Real Takeaway: Gut bacteria don’t need complicated diets or extreme routines. They need steady nourishment from diverse plant foods eaten consistently. Feed them regularly and they quietly support digestion, immunity and metabolic balance every day.