Prebiotics are fibre-rich foods (oligosaccharides eg FOS, GOS, TOS, inulin) that are mostly digested by gut bacteria and 30% of SmartBarf is made up of these foods. They include apple, asparagus, banana, broccoli, cabbage, carob, cashews, chickpeas, chicory, flax, kale, pears, peas, seaweed and tomatoes. The benefits of gut bacteria fed on good sources of oligosaccharides are the release of nutrients and by-products that protect and nourish their hosts and even affect their mental well-being. More specifically, they inhibit the activity of pathogens, promote the activity of beneficial bacteria, protect from the risk of mineral deficiencies by helping to improve mineral absorption and they lower the secretion of stress hormones.