You might want to look at the Fiber Fueled book by Will Bulciewicz, @John Brunner . He seems to be pretty much an authority on everything gut -related. Inulin is also supposed to be prebiotic, and my Teeccino herbal coffee has that in it, which is an easy way to get the inulin.
Plant Jerusalem artichokes. You can grow them easily, and the roots are mostly inulin. They are a perennial sunflower.
I may do that. This latest gut thing has me looking at a lot of stuff I have the room to cultivate. One of the things I read was the superior qualities of young ginger root over the fully-grown rhizome. But no one sells the young root because the resources (land & labor) to grow/harvest the babies is the same as the resources to harvest the when they're many times the size/weight. I need to get that garden back in shape and install a perimeter fence before spring hits. The daggone thing is over 2,600 square feet...I got room to do whatever I want to.
I was reading an article on the probiotic Bimuno GOS, and I came across this chart: Notice that Jerusalem Artichoke is the only food listen that contains all 3 common probiotics, and in significant quantities.
I know the Jerusalem artichoke is recommended by many, but I thought it had as much inulin as chicory; I was mistaken. You should be able to grow both in Virginia, but probably not ginger, at least not outside.
I gotta think that it's easier to consume a quantity of Jerusalem Artichoke than it is the same quantity of chicory root, but consistent details on these figures is hard to find. I came across that chart in another form, which credited the data back to The International Probiotics Association (IPA.) The IPA's website listed the above inulin-rich foods, but it linked back to a Healthline article (The 19 Best Prebiotic Foods You Should Eat) for details. That article has both matching and different numbers (and no numbers) for the foods in the above chart, so I'm still looking. I found that chicory leaves have 11 grams of inulin, although I saw no specs for differing varieties. (I eat a raw head of radicchio over the course of a week in my salads.) I've yet to encounter info on how much inulin is in a cup of brewed chicory coffee...all the inulin figures are for ground chicory being consumed as a sweetener (from the inulin) or to augment flour. To me, some of this is like differentiating fiber from roughage. If inulin is undigestible fiber that sits in your gut as food, I don't understand how it can be soluble in the tea. Shifting to probiotics for a moment, the IPA's website has an interesting article on the recently evolving taxonomy of Bacillus they have driven. In the past 2 years, it has expanded from 2 clades to 19 clades, with the promise of more to come. In 2020 there were 280 defined species of Bacillus. There were no details on how the 17 additional clades impacted that number. One goal of this effort is to support a more comprehensive separation of potential pathogenic species with species that have a safe history of use in foods. There was no discussion on whether recommendations for probiotic supplements might be impacted, if at all.
We have been growing the Jerusalem artichoke for several years now, but I never seem to get any of the roots dug up before Bobby mows it all down in the fall. I think that I will have to grow some in containers in order to harvest the roots easily. I watched a video on youtube about doing that; so when they come up next spring, I will probably transfer some into large containers. I can send you some starts of you want some, @John Brunner . The flowers do not show up until late summer, and they are like small sunflowers.
#1: How do you eat these? Do you make a soup? #2: I really appreciate the starter offer, Yvonne. That's very nice of you. I have a friend who owns his own greenhouse, so before I put you to any trouble, I'll ask him if he has any. If not, we'll talk. He has folks bring him all sorts of stuff in that he propagates. I was at his place the other day and a couple brought in some Elephant Ear bulbs for him. He propagates a lot of the stuff that he sells...it's already Virginia-acclimated and it's 100% profit.
From what i read, you can cook the tubers, or eat them raw , like in salads. You do not harvest them until after a frost, and by then , Bobby has mowed down all of ours right to the ground, so I can’t tell where the plant was to dig up the tubers. So, I have never tried eating any of them yet. I keep thinking that I will plant them somewhere that does not get mowed, but I have not done that yet. They spread each year, so once you have a start, you will have more every year.
Onward healthy 'culture', rare in society, beautiful in countenance, radiant in wholesome healthiness. ===============================================================
Yep, in warm climates they can become invasive, I guess. I grew them when we lived in North Carolina and ate the roots mashed as you would potatoes. They were okay, but not as good as potatoes IMO. They are recommended for diabetics as they cause no insulin spike. I never used the leaves or flowers, but as far as I know, all parts of the plant are edible. We have some perennial sunflowers that grow here, but true Jerusalem artichokes do not over winter here for me. @Yvonne Smith you can grow them in a barrel planter, but you could also plant them in a secluded corner and ask @Bobby Cole not to completely mow them down until you can dig them up. As I remember, they don't keep well out of the ground. It has been many years, but I think we dug them up through the end of the season, not just after frost.
Funny, but this morning I was looking at the local community college's curriculum to see if they offered courses in nutrition...but they don't. So far all I've found nearby are one-day classes (that have an Amway smell about them) focusing on nutrition & weight loss.