Oprah's O Magazine features an article on Gut Microbiota

I have been promoting the use of prebiotics for quite a few years. It is rewarding to see it go mainstream. Well done, and to the point. Making a well stated recommendation for prebiotic supplementation could have added to the message. Here are some excerpts. Follow to read the entire article.

Many types of bacteria are fighting it out in your digestive tract, and the winners can determine your risk for a range of health problems. Here's how to get the right mix.

Your belly is a popular place: As many as 100 trillion microbes call it home. Many of them are beneficial bacteria that process hard-to-digest foods, produce nutrients, and—as we're now learning—guard against disease. Yet your gut is also filled with "bad" bacteria that release toxins and are increasingly associated with a range of health problems. So how do you cultivate beneficial bacteria and force the harmful ones out? Here's where new research says to start.

Feed the good bugs.
Intestinal bacteria need to eat, and mounting evidence indicates that beneficial bugs prefer nutrients called prebiotics, which are primarily found in high-fiber foods including onions, garlic, bananas, artichokes, many greens and (supplements.)

Pick the right probiotics.
You can also tilt your balance toward good bugs simply by eating more of them—in the form of probiotics, which are live bacteria contained in foods and supplements.

Avoid bacteria-harming drugs.
The antibiotics we take to kill pathogens also lay waste to the bacteria in our digestive tract. Research from Stanford University published last September found that taking two courses of antibiotics, spaced six months apart, changed the composition of good and bad intestinal bugs, disrupting the overall balance.