Prebiotic Foods for a Healthy Gut

Mini Sheth, PhD, is the Head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition at the Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. She has over 35 years of teaching and research experience and specializes in prebiotics and gut health, clinical dietetics, and food safety. She has published more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has applied for patents for prebiotic cakes and synbiotic beverages and holds copyrights for booklets on fructooligosaccharides-added sweets, prebiotics, and diabetes management. She has over 10 professional memberships, including the Probiotic Association of India, Indian Dietetic Association, Nutrition Society of India, and Association of Food Scientist and Technologists, India. She has held important positions including RD board member of the Indian Dietetic Association (2015–2019); President of the Indian Dietetic Association (Gujarat Chapter) from 2010 to Dec 2014; Deputy Director of a WHO collaborating center, FN Department (2010–2013); and Deputy Coordinator of a UGC/DSA SAP III program. She has undertaken projects sponsored by DBT, Government of India, and TCL on FOS and Obesity. She has guided over 20 PhD students and has received more than 25 awards and recognitions. She has a PhD in Foods and Nutrition (1994) and has been a Registered Dietician since 1986. Shruti Dwivedi, PhD, is a researcher and health coach. She has been awarded a Young Scientist Award by the Universal Society of Foods and Nutrition and the Swedish South Asian Network for Fermented Foods for her research work on the gut-brain axis. Her other accomplishments include UGC NET, SRF and ICAR AIEEA. She has membership in the Indian Dietetic Association and Nutrition Society of India. She has published papers in various peer-reviewed international and national journals. Her work on the gut and mental health connection has been featured in TOI, Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh Daily, and various peer-reviewed journals. As a consultant at MAMTA Health Institute of Mother and Child and a health coach at NGOs such as Kalam and Mahima, she has supervised various health camps and activities in rural as well as urban settings. She is on a mission to make people aware of mindful fitness. As founder of Nutrideck, she counsels people, both individually and in collaboration with organizations such as Mahila Patanjali Yog Samiti and Kaka Ayurvedic Chiktsalya, on lifestyle management in order to combat noncommunicable diseases and raise awareness about healthy living. She received a doctorate degree in Public Health and Nutrition from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India.

PART I: INTRODUCTION TO GUT MICROBIOME AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PREBIOTICS 1. Molecular Ecology of the Human Gut 2. Prebiotics 3. Factors Associated in Shaping the Gut Microbiota for Improved Health PART II: EVIDENCE-BASED STUDIES ON THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF PREBIOTICS IN MANAGEMENT OF VARIOUS METABOLIC DISORDERS AND OTHER DISEASES 4. Prebiotics and Oral Health 5. Role of Prebiotics in Gastrointestinal Health: Constipation 6. Prebiotics as A Symptom Reliever in Irritable Bowel Syndrome 7. Role of Prebiotic and Fermented Beverages in Mental Health and Depression 8. Psychobiotics for Manipulating Gut-Brain Axis in Alzheimer’s Disease 9. Prebiotics in the Management of Diabetes 10. Prebiotics in Obesity Management 11. Probiotics During Pregnancy 12. Cancer and Prebiotics 13. Human Milk Oligosaccharides: Earliest Prebiotics and Their Impact on Infant Health and Immunity PART III: EVALUATION AND EXTRACTION OF PREBIOTICS 14. Techniques to Evaluate Prebiotic Properties 15. Xylooligosaccharide: A Potential Prebiotic PART IV: ROLE OF PREBIOTICS AND SYNBIOTICS IN FOOD PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 16. Role of Prebiotics in Synbiotic Fermented Dairy Foods 17. Prebiotic Food Product Development 18. Standardized Prebiotic Recipes