This Popular Supplement Can Turn Your Pet’s Gut Into a Yeasty Mess

Prebiotics, which are non-digestible food components, which take the form of complex sugars, are found in whole foods, such as asparagus, cashews and apples, all of which make really great additions to your pets diet. The same cannot always be said for prebiotic supplements.

Although prebiotic supplementation is touted as a way to feed and encourage the growth of good bacteria living inside of your pet’s gastrointestinal system, there is research to suggest that such supplementation fails to distinguish between good flora and bad. For a pet with excellent gastrointestinal health this may not be a problem. However should an animal have already existing gut issues, even just a spike of negative flora, supplementation may actually ecacerbate the problem.

Key Takeaways:

  • Prebiotics are food components that are non-digestible and comprised of complex sugars.
  • There are numerous, nutritious whole foods that have prebiotic fibers, such as asparagus and apples.
  • Very fit animals can benefit from these foods, but animals with pre-existing gastrointestinal problems should not have prebiotic supplements.

“Marketing claims often position prebiotic supplements as feeding only friendly bacteria in the digestive tract, but studies show this isn’t the case — prebiotics nourish unhealthy bacteria as well.”

Read more: https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2018/04/22/prebiotics-whole-food-sources.aspx