[Jimbee (OP)]

Prebiotics are foods that foster beneficial bacterial growth in the gut.

My question is, don't all foods do this anyways? And is there any benefit to buying prebiotic products? Or is it just a way for companies to make more money?

[Origin]

I believe the term is probiotics.  The idea is that you eat foods that have 'good' bacteria to replace the bacteria in your gut.  There are no definitive studies that show that probiotics actually help gut bacteria.

[alancalverd]

Nor indeed does it seem that lower gut bacteria have any function in human physiology. It seems that they just find it a convenient place to live, and do little harm.

[Petrochemicals]

Prebiotics are foods that foster beneficial bacterial growth in the gut.

My question is, don't all foods do this anyways? And is there any benefit to buying prebiotic products? Or is it just a way for companies to make more money?

Highly processed foods are not beneficial in the way that salad, vegetables or brown bread are. It is a way for people to sell you unprocessed food at processed prices.

[vhfpmr]

Highly processed foods are not beneficial in the way that salad, vegetables or brown bread are

Bread is classed as ultra-processed unless it's expensive artisan bread that's made without preservatives (and goes off quickly).

http://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/ultraprocessed-foods-what-they-are-and-how-to-identify-them/E6D744D714B1FF09D5BCA3E74D53A185
https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/378/bmj-2022-070688.full.pdf

[Bored chemist]

I believe the term is probiotics.

I believe that they refer to different things.

[Petrochemicals]

Highly processed foods are not beneficial in the way that salad, vegetables or brown bread are

Bread is classed as ultra-processed unless it's expensive artisan bread that's made without preservatives (and goes off quickly).

http://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/ultraprocessed-foods-what-they-are-and-how-to-identify-them/E6D744D714B1FF09D5BCA3E74D53A185
https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/378/bmj-2022-070688.full.pdf

Yep, wholemeal, whole-meal, husk, germ and all, far healthier.

[alancalverd]

Ultra-processed foods include carbonated soft drinks;

but presumably not whisky and soda, wine spritzer, naturally carbonated mineral water, or concentrated orange juice rediluted with home-carbonated tap water? I smell an organic rat.