Supplementation of chicory root inulin as a prebiotic during antibiotic treatment for young children has shown to stabalise and maintain healthy bacteria in the Gutbiome.
Supplementation of prebiotic inulin sourced from chicory root during antibiotic treatment in a study of children aged between 3-6 reveals that the consumption of prebiotic chicory root inulin fibre kept the levels of Bifidobacteria higher and more stable during antibiotic disturbance within the microbiome.
The most significant aspect of this randomised, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial of 258 healthy children study showed how stable and balanced their microbiome remained during this treatment when only 6g of chicory root fibre was supplemented over a 24 week period during winter with maltodextrin used as the control.
As expected, all the children undergoing antibiotic treatment showed a reduction of microbiota, including bifidobacteria. However the children supplementing the inlulin prebiotic showed a higher presence of bifidobacteria in contrast to the control group with maltodextrin.
One key aspect for this group is that children affected by an early disturbance in the microbiota composition can create an imbalance in the gutbiome which can significantly affect their health throughout their life. Biffidobacteria is a dominant part of a baby’s microbiota in breastfed infants, therefore emphasising the importance of the role that chicory root inulin prebiotics play for the maintenance and growth of Bifidobacteria for children.
Up and coming research is yet to be undertaken to study the effects of how this impacts an adults gutbiome, however it does look promising!
Source: Prebiotic supplementation over a cold season and during antibiotic treatment specifically modulates the gut microbiota composition of 3-6 year-old children.