Research
Mixed
Dietary intake of nondigestible carbohydrates (resistant starch, prebiotics) directly influences the species composition and total numbers of the human colonic microbiota.
To change your gut bacteria, you must eat nondigestible carbohydrates like resistant starch and prebiotics. These feed specific bacteria that produce beneficial metabolites. If you don't see changes, you might lack the specific bacteria needed to process these foods, but the potential for change exists.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Recent evidence from molecular ecology has also shown that the amount and type of nondigestible carbohydrates (e.g., resistant starch, non-starch polysaccharides, and prebiotics) influences the species composition of the intestinal microbiota both in short-term dietary interventions and in response to habitual long-term dietary intake.
Why this rating
Based on multiple human intervention studies and molecular ecology evidence cited.
Source
The impact of nutrition on the human microbiome
Harry J. Flint · Nutrition Reviews · 2012
DOI 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2012.00499.x
narrative_reviewCited 282×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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