Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2025
Advances in Nutrition, 2024
This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit.
Numerous studies have established that prebiotic ingredients in foods and dietary supplements may play a role in supporting human health. Over the three decades that have passed since prebiotics were first defined as a concept, research has revealed a complex universe of prebiotic-induced changes to the human microbiota. There are strong indications of a direct link between these prebiotic-induced changes and specific health benefits.
Beneficial Microbes, 2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force.
Advances in Nutrition, 2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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Abstract
Prebiotics, particularly non-digestible carbohydrates (NDCs), are increasingly recognized for their role in modulating immune responses in the gut, lungs, and urinary tract. This review systematically evaluates evidence from human studies on the effects of NDCs and prebiotics on immune markers, infection risk and severity, inflammation, and vaccine responses. Prebiotics such as inulin, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) positively influence gut microbiota by promoting beneficial species like Bifidobacteria. They also enhance the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, which interact with immune cells via G-protein-coupled receptors, inducing anti-inflammatory effects. In addition to microbiota-mediated mechanisms, NDCs and prebiotics may directly affect immune and epithelial cells by interacting with pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), enhancing gut barrier function, and modulating immunity. A systematic review of human studies showed that prebiotics, including GOS, FOS, and 2′-fucosyllactose (2FL), reduced infections and increased IgA in healthy infants, while yeast β-glucan reduced respiratory infection symptoms in healthy adults. Yeast β-glucan and GOS supplementation resulted in improvements in NK cell activity. Some effects on vaccine efficacy were noted in young adults, but the overall impact of NDCs and prebiotics on vaccination and systemic inflammation was inconsistent. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms involved and to optimize health applications.
Keywords
prebiotic; non-digestible carbohydrates; immunity; infection; inflammation; microbiota
Read the full papaer
Commissionned by the Prebiotics Task Force
One-pager
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Abstract
This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit. An expert group was conceived in October 2023 to discuss the evidence base on the use of prebiotics to promote cognitive functioning, with a focus on highlighting knowledge gaps and proposing a list of recommendations to guide this specific area of research forward. To address this, we evaluated existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human intervention studies that examine the effects of prebiotics on cognitive functioning. These are predominantly conducted in healthy participants under basal conditions and have, to date, revealed limited effects. In this perspective, we propose that prebiotics should be investigated as agents to promote cognitive resilience by testing their effects on cognitive performance under certain cognition-taxing factors that individuals encounter across their lifespan. These include stress, poor sleep outcomes, sedentary behaviour, and unhealthy dietary patterns, all of which have been shown to be associated with altered microbiome and impact global cognition or specific cognitive domains. In addition, we recommend identifying vulnerable populations that are either sub-clinical or that struggle chronically or periodically with one or more cognition-taxing factors, to better uncover the boundary conditions for prebiotic effectiveness. By broadening the scope of research to include diverse populations and challenging conditions in daily life or experimental settings, we can expand our understanding of the role of prebiotics not only in cognitive health or impairment, but also as potential preventative agents that may promote cognitive resilience during aging and in response to various lifestyle-related challenges.
One-pager
Read the full article
Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force
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Abstract
Numerous studies have established that prebiotic ingredients in foods and dietary supplements may play a role in supporting human health. Over the three decades that have passed since prebiotics were first defined as a concept, research has revealed a complex universe of prebiotic-induced changes to the human microbiota. There are strong indications of a direct link between these prebiotic-induced changes and specific health benefits. However, at the present time, the EU has not permitted use of the term 'prebiotic' in connection with an approved health claim. This paper is the outcome of a workshop organized on the 25th October 2023 by the European branch of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI). It provides an overview of the regulatory requirements for authorized health claims in the EU, key areas of prebiotic research, and findings to date in relation to prebiotics and digestive, immune, metabolic and cognitive health. Research gaps and documentation challenges are then explored and a roadmap proposed for achieving authorization of 'prebiotic' in the wording of future EU health claims.
Introductory video
One-pager
Read the full article
Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force
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Together with proteins and fats, carbohydrates are one of the macronutrients in the human diet. Digestible carbohydrates, such as starch, starch-based products, sucrose, lactose, glucose and some sugar alcohols and unusual (and fairly rare) α-linked glucans, directly provide us with energy while other carbohydrates including high molecular weight polysaccharides, mainly from plant cell walls, provide us with dietary fibre. Carbohydrates which are efficiently digested in the small intestine are not available in appreciable quantities to act as substrates for gut bacteria. Some oligo- and polysaccharides, many of which are also dietary fibres, are resistant to digestion in the small intestines and enter the colon where they provide substrates for the complex bacterial ecosystem that resides there. This review will focus on these non-digestible carbohydrates (NDC) and examine their impact on the gut microbiota and their physiological impact. Of particular focus will be the potential of non-digestible carbohydrates to act as prebiotics, but the review will also evaluate direct effects of NDC on human cells and systems
Keywords
Expand
Prebiotics, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), non-digestible carbohydrates
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force.
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Humans often show variable responses to dietary, prebiotic, and probiotic interventions. Emerging evidence indicates that the gut microbiota is a key determinant for this population heterogeneity. Here, we provide an overview of some of the major computational and experimental tools being applied to critical questions of microbiota-mediated personalized nutrition and health. First, we discuss the latest advances in in silico modeling of the microbiota-nutrition-health axis, including the application of statistical, mechanistic, and hybrid artificial intelligence models. Second, we address high-throughput in vitro techniques for assessing inter-individual heterogeneity, from ex vivo batch culturing of stool and continuous culturing in anaerobic bioreactors, to more sophisticated organ-on-a-chip models that integrate both host and microbial compartments. Third, we explore in vivo approaches for better understanding personalized, microbiota-mediated responses to diet, prebiotics, and probiotics, from non-human animal models and human observational studies, to human feeding trials and crossover interventions. We highlight examples of existing, consumer-facing precision nutrition platforms that are currently leveraging the gut microbiota. Furthermore, we discuss how the integration of a broader set of the tools and techniques described in this piece can generate the data necessary to support a greater diversity of precision nutrition strategies. Finally, we present a vision of a precision nutrition and healthcare future, which leverages the gut microbiota to design effective, individual-specific interventions.
Download the full article here
or click on the image below to download the one-pager summary.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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Abstract
Prebiotics, particularly non-digestible carbohydrates (NDCs), are increasingly recognized for their role in modulating immune responses in the gut, lungs, and urinary tract. This review systematically evaluates evidence from human studies on the effects of NDCs and prebiotics on immune markers, infection risk and severity, inflammation, and vaccine responses. Prebiotics such as inulin, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) positively influence gut microbiota by promoting beneficial species like Bifidobacteria. They also enhance the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, which interact with immune cells via G-protein-coupled receptors, inducing anti-inflammatory effects. In addition to microbiota-mediated mechanisms, NDCs and prebiotics may directly affect immune and epithelial cells by interacting with pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), enhancing gut barrier function, and modulating immunity. A systematic review of human studies showed that prebiotics, including GOS, FOS, and 2′-fucosyllactose (2FL), reduced infections and increased IgA in healthy infants, while yeast β-glucan reduced respiratory infection symptoms in healthy adults. Yeast β-glucan and GOS supplementation resulted in improvements in NK cell activity. Some effects on vaccine efficacy were noted in young adults, but the overall impact of NDCs and prebiotics on vaccination and systemic inflammation was inconsistent. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms involved and to optimize health applications.
Keywords
prebiotic; non-digestible carbohydrates; immunity; infection; inflammation; microbiota
Read the full papaer
Commissionned by the Prebiotics Task Force
One-pager
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