LUNCHES

grapes

School has started again and I was reminded of my sense of inadequacy over lunch food when my brother in law was complaining about his daughter not eating her lunch.  It reminded me of when I had the same complaint.  But my complaint included a rant about the contents of my daughter's lunch.
You see, I hate to pack school lunch.  This dislike goes back to when I was a child.  I never wanted to do it the night before, and everyone knows you can only do a good job in the morning if you get up early.  So I always foist  the job on anyone I can get to do it.
When my daughter was little, I had the babysitter make her lunch.  I would explain, in excruciating detail, what should be included in a nutritious lunch.  And each evening I would empty her lunch box with a complete untouched lunch.  This lunch would always contain food that did not meet my standards.  After listening to me complain about this for weeks, my husband, instead of telling me to make the lunch myself (a very good call on his part, I might add) stated "what does it matter if she doesn't eat a non-nutritious lunch, or she doesn't eat a nutritious lunch?  She doesn't eat it!"
This got me to thinking about what and how much a lunch should contain.  Obviously, the caloric intake varies depending on the age of the child, and whether or not you are packing mid-morning and after school snacks also, as so many parents do.  I think the best way to think about it is how many calories does your child need in 24 hours, and how many of those will he eat away from home.
A child should always start their morning with breakfast.  In general, they should have some protein and complex carbohydrates.  I'm a big fan of oatmeal, but my daughter isn't.  It doesn't have to be typical breakfast fare, either.  A big favorite in my family is cold pizza.  That meets my requirements and can be eaten on the run.
But this is really about lunches.  I've always thought that lunches should have a variety of things because you never know what you are going to feel like eating.  If you are planning lunch with snacks, that allows you to increase the choices and calories for your child.  Plan on giving them half their daily calories.  Include a fruit, a vegetable, carbohydrate and protein.  Include your child in menu planning.  Not necessarily on a daily basis, but in grocery-shopping.  If they have more say in what goes in their lunch, they are more likely to eat it.
Do you need to include a "treat"?  And if so, what kind?  Some people think of treats as dessert and sweet, others think of treats as salty and savory.  I think of treats as junk food and should not be a daily part of eating.  So my answer is treats are not a daily part of lunch.  Even if they are not eaten!  Because what we are trying to teach with what we send to school for lunch is what is good food.
Next blog will have ideas for the lunch itself!

FROZEN TREATS

 In my last blog, I mentioned that I was off to make gelato, which I did.  And then I made some more.  And then I made some ice cream.  And finally I had a bunch of people over to taste them and figure out what they liked better.
The big question on everyone's lips mixed in with cream, sugar and eggs was what was the difference between the two.  So here is a treatise on gelato and ice cream.

Gelato came first, although ice cream and gelato are essentially made from many of the same ingredients.  Gelato has a lower butterfat content which is usually 4-8% and in the United States ice cream usually has about 14% butterfat, but some of the rich ice creams can go up to 20-25% butterfat.  After 25% the texture because almost waxy and is actually unpleasant.

Gelato also has more sugar than ice cream, usually running about 16-24% to ice cream's  12-16% depending on the amount of fat.  It is this increase in sugar that combines with the water to prevent the gelato from forming large ice crystals as it freezes.  Also, gelato requires "a stabilizer" which  most often are the egg yolks (although in the mascapone ice cream I made, the stabilizer was a milk solid commonly known as cheese.)  It is important that the milk proteins are heated, as well as the egg yolks and then the whole mixture ages so that the milk proteins bind with the water so that the ice crystals that form will be smaller giving a smoother texture.

Gelato is always made quickly in small batches, and the churning is slower.  Slow slow churning minimizes the amount of air incorporated into the finished product which is a denser product than ice cream with more intense flavours.  It can only be stored for a few days at consistent, low temperatures.

Ice cream
Standard ice cream is made from cream, milk and sugar.  There are usually no eggs in it.  When eggs are added, it is called French, or custard ice cream, and then it is really more gelato-styled, although usually has siginificantly more fat than gelato.  During the churning of ice cream, there is more whipping during the process whichs incorporates more air which gives it a lighter texture.

There are many ice cream makers out there.  There are commercial gelato makers and many discussions about the availability of good home gelato makers.  I am pleased with the one I bought.  It has gotten great reviews from many others and I can say that the crema gelato I produced was as a good as a remembered from the last time I was in Italy.

Neither gelato nor ice cream is what I call a healthy snack. Calorie-wise, though, per 1/2 cup serving homemade gelato is about 150-200 calories and ice cream is 250-350.  But place it on top of fresh summer fruit and I think for an occasional treat, there is no reason not to give it to your kids.  And there are some sorbettos that I am going to try and I will report in on their ease of making in my new machine.  Because those will be  a lot healthier on top of those summer fruits.

Gelato - Lucky For Me I Don't Live in Italy!

On occasion I write on another blog, Bytes of Food, where the writers talk about is "all things food".  My latest blog there is about the Santa Monica Farmers Market, one of my favorite places to hang out.  Since it is summer and I am feeling lazy, this is going to be a short blog.  I would suggest you read that entry for the background.

Ice cream is a favorite food for everyone in my family.  When I think about what I would NEED on a deserted island, ice cream would definitely be up there.  I sometimes think I could eat it 3 meals a day.  And I know how unhealthy that would be.  So one of the ways I make sure that ice cream is not continuously in my house is that I do not buy it.  The way I satisfy my craving for it is that when I really want it I make it from scratch.  I can assure you that minimizes how often I eat it.

I prefer gelato to ice cream.  The difference is that gelato is made from eggs and whole milk, not light cream.  It has 5-7% fat (by law for something to carry the label ice cream it must have at least 10% fat).  Because it is churned at a slower speed it gets less air in it and is more dense.  It is also is served slighter warmer.  My favorite flavor is crema.  Most Americans think of it as vanilla, but it isn't.  It is more delicate, and I have never seen it in the grocery stores.   The only way to enjoy it in the United States is to make it yourself.  So here is a recipe for it.  You can serve it with the fruit recipe that is in my blog in Bytes of Food. 

Crema (or custard) Gelato

2 1/4 cups whole milk
6 egg yolks
2/3 c. heavy cream
pinch of salt

Combine milk and salt in medium saucepan and heat slowly until bubbles form around the edges.  Take off heat. 
Blend the sugar and egg yolks until very thick and smooth.  Add the hot milk gradually, and then put mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and put in a bowl of ice water and stir for 2 minutes until cool.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Beat the cream until soft beaks form.  Add to custard mixture.  Put into your ice cream maker.
Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

IMPORTANT NOTES
1. Since no flavoring is added, the fresher the ingredients the better this will taste.
2. I like using free-range chicken eggs.  The yolks are usually more yellow which gives the gelato a color with more depth.
3. Patience is the key word.  If you don't take your time stirring you will overcook the eggs.  If that happens, just strain your mixture to get out the egg lumps.
4. If you want to add to this, you can mix in pieces of fresh fruits or candies after it is made.  If you put it in while making the ice cream, they tend to freeze.

And now I am off to the kitchen to make gelato.............

AS USUAL, THE KIDS PREFER MOM'S!



Fitz, the "fruit guy"



Not only did Ashna try out the food, but one of her friends participated.  I'm always one to encourage kids to to put their "two cents" in, so even though it is summer, I asked Sydney to give her opinion by writing an essay.  Here  is what she had to say.   

                                                                                      

Easy Fruity Recipes

With the new summer heat, refreshing fruit is beginning to make its way to the top of our snacking list. Since sweet, fresh fruit is now in season, making summer specialties like fruit salad, frulatti, and banana frappes are easy-to-make summer treats. I had a chance to critique different versions of each of these recipes.



"B"                     "A"



First I tried two different bowls of fruit salad and was told to evaluate all aspects of both. I tried “Bowl A” first. Even before scooping up a generous serving, I noticed that the fruit was bright, and seems artfully cut and arranged. However, upon eating the fruit, I found that it was slightly mushy and not as brightly flavored as the colors made it seem. When I tried the “Bowl B”, I was instantly gratified with a fresh, sweet burst of flavor from firmer, juicier fruit than found in the “Bowl A”. However, the fruit of the “Bowl B” was less carefully presented than its counterpart; it seemed to be thrown in haphazardly, and the fruit was cut into uneven chunks. Upon careful examination of the pros and cons of each fruit salad, I found that I liked the “Bowl B” better. Although presentation is important for any dish, flavor is the critical tipping point for any taste testing. Before going into this tasting, I didn’t think that the two fruit salads would be any different; after all, it was the same fruit for both! But I surprised myself by noticing distinct differences between the two.

Now, everybody has had fruit salad before, but have you ever heard of a frulatto? No? Well, neither had I, before this. But I was glad that I got to try it. I tried various frulatti with different types of dairy product. We started out with two frulatti made with milk—one with nonfat and one with whole. Both frulatti made with milk had a slightly gritty texture from the ice and the fruit. The frulatto with skim milk was more watery and not very rich, while the one with whole milk was more full-bodied, but still not creamy and smooth. I then tried frulatti made with yogurt. All of these frulatti were smooth and thicker than the ones made with milk. I first tried one made with a plain, slightly sour yogurt, which was much creamier and smooth than the ones made with milk, but the tang of the yogurt did not go well with the sweetness of the fruit. Next, I tried one made with vanilla yogurt. This one was my favorite frulatto at this point in the tasting. It was rich creamy and smooth, and was sweeter than the one made with plain yogurt. Because I complained about the tanginess of the plain yogurt and praised the sweetness of the vanilla yogurt, I then tried one more; the final frulatto we tried had plain yogurt, and extra sugar added in. This was my favorite of all of the frulatti: it didn’t have the vanilla flavor to distract from the flavor of the fruit; it was rich, smooth, and creamy; and the intense flavor of the fruit was enhanced by the creamy sweetness of the yogurt.

Finally I got to try the banana frappes. My reviews of the different versions were very similar to the ones of the frulatti. The frappes made with milk were thinner and less full bodied than the ones made with yogurt. They were not as smooth, especially the one made with nonfat milk, which seemed slightly chunky and not well-incorporated. The sourness of the plain yogurt did not go well with the banana, much like the frulatti. However, the vanilla flavor of the vanilla yogurt complimented the banana rather than detract from it. It was sweet, creamy, and smooth, with lots of fruit flavor. My favorite frappe was the one made with vanilla yogurt.

Dr. Vicki Again. 

So there you have it.  For you parents out there who are letting fast food joints and restaurants intimidate you from cooking for your kids, GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN!!  You don't have to spend a lot of time or money.  The more time I spend with Carla and her family, the less time I'M going to spend in the kitchen.  (Except when my daughter comes home.  I know she prefers my fancy cooking, because her Mom Knows Best!)

PS  A special thanks to Ashna and Sydney for taking the time to eat and then write up their incredible (with no editing by me) reviews.  And a thanks to Marlborough School.  This is where these girls will be entering 10th grade in the fall and learned to write so beautifully and where my daughter graduated from a few years ago and also got a wonderful education.



FUN, DELICIOUS PRE AND PROBIOTIC FOOD!

Much to my dismay, Carla has not made a single quiche since the one we made together.  So I decided to try something different.  With summer approaching and knowing her younger daughter, Ashna, would be out of school, I decided to teach Carla a number of yummy,  easy healthy snacks that she could do with little effort.  I figured I would do this with her kid around so there would be more pressure for her to "whip" these up in the future.  So here are the recipes, with Ashna's reviews to follow.

FRUIT SALAD
Fruit salad is easy to make but it can be time consuming.  It is, however, used for the next recipe, so from a time point of view, it counts for more than one meal.
Anyone can make a fruit salad.  BUT, there are a few techniques that can make your fruit salad stand out next to your neighbors.  Although not necessary, having good tools does make it easier.

  Here are the tricks:
1.  I tend to only make it in the summer.  I think summer fruits elevate a fruit salad from nothing special to an incredible treat.
2.  Vary tastes, colors,  fruits and textures
3.  As as general rule, cut the fruit to follow how it looks like in nature; don't chop it up into little squares or pieces.  You want to be able to recognize the fruit.
4.  Put the fruit that is going to brown on the bottom.  That means bananas, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and pitted cherries go on the bottom.
5.  Use only ripe fruit in season locally.
6.  Always cut an orange and squeeze the juice over the top of the finished salad.  It minimizes browning and gives it a nice flavor.
7.  Make an artistic decoration on top.  Presentation is important.


My fruit salads always have the following put in in the order listed:
Banana at the bottom
Peach or nectarine cut in slices
Apricots or plums (or if you can get them, pluots or apriums) cut in slices
A variety of melons (whatever is available) that is sweet and ripe.  I like to get at least 2 that are different colors, but usually I will get 3.  You can cut these in square pieces but I like to use melon ballers and make them in 3 different sizes based on the size of the melon.
Mango and/or Hawaiian papaya (I live in California so these are almost always available)
A variety of berries
Kiwi
Oranges


FRULATTI
The first time I remember having a frulatto was when I was in Italy as a teenager.  I fell in love with them.  Although Americans know them as smoothies, for some reason, I think that the ones that I have had in Italy seem so much better.  As you can tell from the fruit salads I make, I usually have some leftover.  That enables me to make my beloved frulatti.  They are very easy.


Take equal amounts of fruit, ice and dairy.  Blend.  You can add sugar.  (1 1/2 tsp)
See Ashna's review to figure out which kind of dairy you think you might like.


BANANA FRAPPE
The original recipe is from my college roommate, Katherine Dorfman.  It's a great way to use up those really ripe bananas that you imagine that you are going to use to make banana bread, but never do.  (I've made banana bread once in my life.  I prefer to do this.)

Cut up 2 large bananas and freeze them
Blend frozen bananas with
1/2 c nonfat milk
1 t vanilla
1/8 t nutmeg
Optional:  stir in chopped walnuts after bananas are pureed.

Serve immediately.

The problem with making it with nonfat milk is that it melts really fast.  So I decided to tweak it a little to see what I could get Carla to make that would appeal to kids as a healthy alternative to ice cream.  Here are the different recipes, with Ashna's reviews to follow:

2 cut up large frozen banana pieces

1/2 cup whole milk
OR 1/2 cup whole milk with  1 tsp added sugar
OR 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
OR 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt with 1-2 tsp added sugar
OR 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt

And for those of you who have little ones, you can see the blog I wrote for EcoMom that uses baby food:  Babies and Toddler Recipes.

"B"                  "A"

                       

Fruity Summer Treats (Ashna's Review)

            Now that summer is approaching, fruity treats are becoming more desirable. I was given an interesting opportunity to evaluate different versions of multiple summer treats, including fruit salad, frulatti, and banana frappes.

            First, I was told to try two different bowls of fruit salad and give my opinion on which I liked better. Fruit Salad “A” tasted like it consisted of many fresh fruits. The fruit was firm, juicy, and sweet. Fruit Salad “B” was also quite delicious. However, it tasted a bit “mushier” than Fruit Salad A. I was later told that Fruit Salad A was just chopped up and Fruit Salad B used various fruit slicing devices, for example the melon baller. Fruit Salad B looked much more appealing, however, I liked Fruit Salad A better. I was surprised that I enjoyed Fruit Salad A more, since the same fruit was used.

            Next, I tried different recipes of a berry frulatto. (NB - Actually, I just took the fruit salad - it took on the color of berries because the purple is so overwhelming!   Dr. Vicki)  The first ones were made with nonfat milk and whole milk. I enjoyed the frulatto made with whole milk more so than the nonfat milk. The one made with nonfat milk seemed a bit more diluted than the one made with whole milk. Then, the milk was replaced by yogurt. I first tried the one with nonfat yogurt and I enjoyed it a bit more than the ones made with milk. It had a thicker consistency, however, the frulatti made with milk tasted a little sweeter. Next, I tried the frulatto with vanilla yogurt. Personally, I liked this version the best so far because it was thick, creamy, and sweet at the same time. After this one, I was given a frulatto made with nonfat yogurt and sugar. I enjoyed this frulatto the most because it was similar to the one made with vanilla yogurt but the sugar brought out the fruity flavors more so than the vanilla, which is what a frulatto is all about. This frulatto was the happy medium between the original frulatto made with milk and a berry smoothie.

            Now it was time to taste the banana frappe. The first ones, like the frulatti, were made with nonfat and whole milk. The nonfat frappe tasted a bit too thin and runny. However, the whole milk frappe tasted frothy and sweet and I noticed the flavor of the banana more so than in the nonfat frappe. Next, we tried the frappes with nonfat yogurt, then vanilla yogurt. The frappe made with nonfat yogurt lost the sweetness and had more of a tart flavor. It was also much thicker than the ones made with milk. The one made with vanilla yogurt, however, was thick and sweet, and the banana flavor came through. It tasted kind of like melted frozen yogurt.  Now I was torn between the whole milk banana frappe and the vanilla yogurt banana frappe. I eventually decided on the one made with whole milk because the consistency came across as that of a frappe more so than the one with vanilla yogurt. They were both strong contenders, but eventually my taste buds chose the whole milk banana frappe.

            Later, I was told that all three of these recipes were easy to make. I love knowing that I can just whip up a delicious frulatto every now and then without doing too much work.



Dr.  Vicki again!  So here you have it.  Even if Carla never makes these again, I know that Ashna will.  So I've converted one person into spending some time in the kitchen.  How about you?

MOM vs HEALTH FOOD INDUSTRY: You Pick!



88 year old Mom who eats a Mediterranean diet

 Many Americans, occasionally even myself, believe that our regulatory systems protect us from false claims. 
Let's look at the Health Food Industry.  There is a whole gamut - from supplements, to buying prepared meals to junk food.  Are all aspects cut from the same cloth?  What can you do to maximize health if you want to increase the good bacteria in your gut particularly if you do not have infinite time and/or money.

The food industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Industry (FDA).  In 1990 Congress passed a law that required "significant scientific consensus" and "a preponderance of  scientific evidence" for food companies to make scientific claims about their foods.  With a lot of controversy, in 2003 the FDA loosened these regulations for the food industry claims about the health benefits of their products.  Perhaps that explains why I see commercials on TV trying to convince me that cocoa cereals boost immunity, sugary cereals will help my child succeed in school and other breakfast cereals fight heart disease!  In 2010 however, Dannon did settled a lawsuit for $45 million because they claimed that their yogurts were "scientifically" and "clinically" proven to boost immunity and regulate the digestive system and had not proven it.  So what does their label say now?  Just "Helps regulate your digestive system"!  My mother still buys it because she believes that it does.  Advertising works.

I decided to look at a number of yogurts on the market that all had  "probiotic" on their label and all implied, although did not state, that their yogurt met the definition of a probiotic.  I looked at their websites. They all were careful NOT to say that their yogurt was a probiotic food but all IMPLIED that it was and that it had all the health benefits that one finds with probiotics.  Which one of these is the best?  Beats me.   Since the food companies are not going to go through the necessary testing to prove theirs have actual health benefits (ie double blind studies) I can't tell you which is the best. I can tell you what the standards are and how many colony counts are required for them to claim that their food is a probiotic.  And the fact that they are careful not to make the claim assures me that theirs is not a true "probiotic". (If they make the claim the FDA, if it has the funding, will go after them like they did Dannon.)  But they do want you to think that they will deliver on promises of health benefits.

I do believe that dairy products are an important part of a healthy diet.  And I do believe, after all my reading, that there are very specific health benefits to a real probiotic. (Probiotics) I just don't know where to find one, except in a lab.  And I don't think I'm going to get my yogurt from my local bio chem lab.  So how do you pick?  This is what I'm going to tell my daughter who has been asking me.  (Actually, I'm just going to tell her to read this, which she does anyway.)  I would go for ones that have live cultures and I would choose one that has the highest colony counts.  (Good luck finding that out!)  So  pick ones that have a bigger variety of organisms.  Then  pick ones based on taste because then you are more likely to actually eat them.  And finally I would go for the nonfat or the low fat  yogurt.  This is almost all I have to say on yogurt, except I just bought a yogurt maker.  I'll let you know in a future blog if it's worth the effort.

Although at a future date there may be be other probiotic foods for purchase, right now there are none. The only other possible way to increase your probiotics is to buy supplements.  However, again buyer beware.  There is no data that the organisms actually get to your gut. (All of them have the same wording "Statements and claims on this site have not been reviewed or evaluated by the FDA")

Prebiotics are a little more confusing in how you get them in your diet. Clearly they are good for you.  They are present in many fruits and vegetables.  Depending on what you want the prebiotic to do for you and what kind it is, you need anywhere from 5-15 grams per day in your diet.  (A 6 gram serving is about 1/4 lb of raw asparagus; 1 1/3 lbs of bananas, 1/4 lb of cooked onions or 2-3 raw onions)  But do you need to take a supplement?  How about snack foods?

Prebiotic supplements are fiber pills.  Most of their products have inulin or fructo-olisaccharides in them.  The many company advertisements state that that their claims have not been evaluated by the FDA. They, too, all use the same wording as above.  Most of their products have inulin or fructo-olisaccharides in them.  PepsiCo is working on "functional food snacks" (Snacks for a Fat Planet, The New Yorker, 5/16/2011) but they are still not available.

 If a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, ( as now recommended by the new USDA nutritional guidelines Choose My Plate), would need a supplement to reach 5-15 grams of prebiotics a day depends on whether or not the choices you make also are ones that have a high percentage of the types of dietary fiber that are considered functional.

What do I get from all of this reading and analysis of functional foods?  First of all, you can look at this from one of two ways - you can either say that functional foods have additional health benefits beyond their nutritional values OR you could say that the other foods have detrimental health benefits beyond their nutritional values!  What I mean is that perhaps poor food choices can encourage the growth of toxin-producing bacteria that lead to ill health.  If you stop eating foods that cause toxins, you improve your health.  Hence, you have increased your health benefit.  This is different than getting additional health benefits from the other foods - you are getting additional health benefits because you stopped doing something negative (like people who stopped smoking).  But either way you look at it, it is a good thing.

You have to eat something.  You can eat food that leads to bacteria that produce toxins.  Or you can eat food that is good for you.  Like Mom always said, EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!  Do you need to pay extra to get it in pill form?  Your choice. 

My next blog will  be back to food and will feature recipes for those of you who want "functional food" that tastes good!!!

PREBIOTICS - A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO HEALTH?

 Prebiotics work not only in the gut, but also have been proposed to play an important role in a large range of health benefits from reducing disease risk to possibly curing disease.  (As I write this, the words from Stephen Sondheim's "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" from  Sweeney Todd are stuck in my brain.)  The claims are long but I will try to put them in large categories.

Prebiotics work on a limited number of gut microorganisms.  As a result of prebiotics' ability to change the growth OR the activities of certain gut organisms prebiotics are claimed to do the following:
1.  Improve the gut composition which leads to improved gut functions including stool regularity.
2.  Improve immune function
3.  Decrease the risk of colon cancer
4.  Improve mineral absorption
5.  Decrease GI infections
6.  Decreases obesity, metabolic syndrome and its related problems

This then leads to the myriad of health benefits that are all over the Internet.

I will again look at good studies in humans, explain results that have only occurred in labs, and what is theory.  The majority of studies have been done using food ingredients which belong to two groups - inulin-type fructans (ITF) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS).  These have been shown to stimulate lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, which are good bacteria.  To be classified as a prebiotic, it has to be resistant to hydrolysis and GI absorption before the colon, must be fermented by the intestinal micro flora and stimulate the intestinal bacteria associated with health of humans.

IMPROVE GUT COMPOSITION
In a normal gut, things go through the small intestine more quickly compared to the large intestine so there are more bacteria in the large intestine as well as more undigested food.  This is where the prebiotics work.  The food that we are unable to digest (fiber, complex sugars and proteins) as well lining substances of the gut are fermented by the bacteria and used as their energy source with metabolites left over.  These products influence the gut motility.
In only 2 studies were they able to show a positive effect in gut motility with patients that had Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Those patients took 5-7 grams/day of a prebiotic to have an improvement in symptoms.  All the other well designed studies showed less good outcomes and they used lower or higher doses.

IMPROVE IMMUNE FUNCTION
There are some very good theories that prebiotics ought to influence the immune system because the gut, through the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) is significantly involved in both preventing and modifying disease.  The problem is that the human GI system is not easily accessible for study.  So far the best studies are done in the lab and none have been confirmed with well-designed human studies.
A number of clinical studies are being done in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).  The problems with the studies are many but the ingredients are safe and some of the early results deserve further investigation.
Prebiotics have been added to infant formula to make it more like breast milk, which does improve babies' immunity.  The stools do show an increase of bifidobacteria, but whether that translates to improved human health has yet to be proved.

COLON CANCER
The bacteria in your gut manufacture chemicals and some of them can be carcinogens and toxic.  Good bacteria produce a low number of carcinogens and bad bacteria produce a large number of toxins by comparison.  In theory, if you have good bacteria, you should have less production of toxic waste products in your gut and less risk of cancer.  In animals there is a a reduction in colon cancer and in humans, there seems to be a decrease in bio markers in patients at risk for colon cancer who were given symbionics (pre and probiotics.)  It has not been proven that there is a decrease risk of cancer in humans, but again, this is a difficult study to do.

MINERAL ABSORPTION
A number of well-designed studies have shown an increase absorption of calcium in prepubertal girls and boys and late post menopausal women.  In healthy infants, prebiotics increased iron and magnesium absorption; and in early menopause there is increased copper absorption.  In the studies that showed the best mineral absorption, it appears not only is the dose important, but that also using a combination of prebiotics made the mineral absorption more effective.

Whether or not increased absorption leads to improved health has only been proved in lab animals.  Although it seems reasonable, the bone metabolism of post-menopausal women is more complex and much of the previous dogma that we have taught women  to do (like take high dose calcium) is now being questioned. So far no decrease in the risk of osteoporosis has been shown with prebiotics.

DECREASED GI INFECTIONS
The studies show some effect in rats, and some moderate success in prevention of traveler's diarrhea in humans, but otherwise this has not been as successful as probiotics.

OBESITY AND METABOLIC DISORDERS
Most of the studies on this subject have been done in animals.  They have shown a decrease in fat mass, but not a decrease in weight.  Also, there is better glucose, lipid, triglyceride,  and cholesterol metabolism in the rats. The few human studies available seem to show that prebiotics work by producing a peptide that regulates appetite. But so far whether or not this will actually work in humans has not be shown. What the importance of the actual microbes in the gut are in humans has not been explored because the studies have all sorts of difficulties in trying to devise double blind studies with good placebos



AVAILABILITY OF FOOD
Many regular foods contain prebiotics.  These include leeks, onions, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, asparagus and bananas, to name a few.  The quantity of what you have to eat of them to achieve a prebiotic effect differs with the food.  Also, the caloric quantity of the food changes which will modify the health benefits of the prebiotic.
SIDE EFFECTS of PREBIOTICS
Prebiotics are fermented in the large intestine, which means gas is produced.  The more prebiotics, the more flatulence, cramping and diarrhea.  Most people can handle 10-20 grams/meal, but some people complain of side effects with that amount.

So where does that leave us?  See my final blog as I try to summarize the health benefits of these topics and try to make sense on what you can do on a daily basis.