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Antibiotics work by killing bacteria. Since they can’t differentiate between good and bad bacteria, antibiotic use often results in a reduction of good bacteria in the gut. According to a new study, prebiotic chicory root fiber may help maintain healthy levels of gut bacteria in children, even during antibiotic treatment.
Participants included 258 healthy children between the ages of 3 and 6. Half of them took 6 grams per day of chicory root fiber for 24 weeks. The other half took a placebo. Fecal samples were taken throughout the study period in order to measure gut microbiota.
At the end of the study, levels of Bifidobacterium were higher in the chicory root group than in the placebo group. While both groups showed a reduction in microbiota during antibiotic treatment, participants in the chicory root group had a significantly higher presence of Bifidobacterium, compared to the control group.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Clinical Center of the University of Pécs. It was published online ahead of print on February 19, 2019 in the journal Beneficial Microbes.