8 Foods High in Inulin You Should Be Eating for Better Gut Health

Inulin acts as a prebiotic, the naturally occurring, non-digestible parts of food that feed the healthy bacteria that live in your gut. Although inulin is added to some processed foods, you can also get a good amount from certain whole plant foods.

While there's no official recommended daily value for inulin fiber, eating inulin-rich foods may help your digestive health as well as appetite control. For example, a small June 2019 study in the ‌American Journal of Clinical Nutrition‌ found that eating more inulin led to people feeling fuller and less tempted to eat sweet and salty foods.

Plus, there are a number of health benefits associated with prebiotics such as inulin, including balanced gut microbiota, more mineral absorption and a lower risk of constipation and irritable bowel diseases, per an October 2017 study in ‌Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.‌

Get more inulin and reap the benefits of this fiber by adding these foods to your diet. Here are the top inulin-rich foods per 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces), according to the International Probiotics Association.

The food with the most inulin is chicory root, which is often used as livestock feed, but can also be part of a healthy diet for us. The leaves and flowers can be used fresh in salads and the root itself can be used as a coffee substitute, per a December 2017 report in ‌The Scientific World Journal‌. The roots are naturally bitter, but cooking or soaking them in water can help soften the flavor.

Despite their name, Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes) are tubers and don't look anything like the similarly named globe artichoke. Sunchokes have a crisp texture and nutty flavor and can be used raw in salads, salsas, chutneys and cooked alongside grilled poultry or fish, According to the Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture.

On top of their inulin content, sunchokes provide nearly one-fifth of your daily iron needs, as well as a good amount of copper and vitamin B1, according to the USDA.

Dandelions might be a pesky weed in your garden, but they're a surprising source of nutrition. In addition to inulin, dandelion greens are a great source of vitamins A, C and K, as well as folate, calcium and potassium, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Although you can eat these greens raw, they're slightly bitter. To fix that, soak the dandelion greens in cold, salted water for up to 15 minutes, then boil them until tender.

Admittedly, you're probably not eating 3.5 ounces of garlic in one sitting, but this allium has a good amount of inulin — and if you're a garlic lover, it adds up over time. Beyond inulin, garlic has a bit of vitamin C and B6, as well as the minerals manganese and selenium, per the USDA.

Onions' cousin, leeks, has a sweeter and milder flavor, according to the Produce for Better Health Foundation. Leeks are a good source of inulin, but they're also high in vitamin K and vitamins B6 and C, as well as copper, iron and manganese.

Leeks are referred to as "dirty" vegetables because of the way they grow in the soil — so they need a good cleaning before eating by removing the roots and outer leaves, cutting the stalk in half lengthwise and running water through the vegetables' layers, per ‌Food and Nutrition‌ magazine, a publication of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Although it might not be as high in inulin as other vegetables, asparagus has a well-rounded nutritional profile that makes it a good choice for one of your daily vegetable servings.

Asparagus is one of the world's top 20 vegetable crops, and it comes in green, purple and white hues, per January 2020 research in ‌Metabolites.‌ It offers plenty of nutrients, including vitamins B1, B2, B3, K and E, as well as the minerals selenium, iron, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus.

Wheat bran is the outer layer of the whole grain, and it's rich in B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, phytochemicals and antioxidants, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Wheat bran is available as a cereal, but you can also crush them up and add them to meatballs to help keep them moist, per the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Bananas are a source of inulin, though they don't rank as high as other plant foods. When you eat a banana, you'll also get a good amount of vitamin C and potassium, per the Produce for Better Health Foundation.