Checkoff-led consumer research indicates that people believe the digestive system and microbiome are important not just for gut health but also for immunity, and mental and metabolic health. 

While it is good to start as early as possible, it is never too late to support gut health and the inner defense system.

While fermented foods and probiotics are trending, these nutrients have been essential in diets for 10,000 years. 

When it comes to probiotics and prebiotics, you could say today’s consumers are very pro. In fact, according to a 2020 report from Hyderabad, India-based Mordor Intelligence titled “Probiotics Market — Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts (2021-2026),” the global probiotic market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.08% during the forecast period of 2020-2025.

While Today’s Dietitian listed “Probiotic Push” as one of the hot nutrition trends for 2016, their synergistic partners, prebiotics, have not gained as much traction with either consumers or health professionals.

Low microbial diversity in the gut is associated with disease and poor health. One way to bolster the diversity of the gut is to consume fermented foods, including dairy foods that contain probiotics.