Circadian rhythms play critical roles in human health. Maintaining these rhythms can be challenging, especially for people who work night shifts or travel across multiple time zones. Findings from a new study suggest that prebiotics can help restore the body’s natural rhythms.

Prebiotics are food components that support the maintenance of a healthy microbiota and create an environment that is conducive to its survival. Fructo-oligosaccharides, galacto-oligosaccharides, and trans-galacto-oligosaccharides are the most common prebiotics. Their fermentation by gut microbiota produces short-chain fatty acids, including lactic acid, butyric acid, and propionic acid. Many commonly consumed fruits and vegetables, such as apples, bananas, and legumes, contain prebiotics.

The authors of the study fed rats either a prebiotic-enriched diet or a standard diet. After the rats had been on their respective diets for five weeks, the authors either flipped their light/dark schedules (roughly equivalent to flying across 12 time zones) or left them on a normal schedule once a week for eight weeks. They measured the animals' sleep, brain activity, core body temperature, and locomotor activity. They also collected fecal samples from the animals and identified the types and number of gut microbes present.

The rats that ate the prebiotic-enriched diet resumed their normal sleep-wake cycles, core body temperature, and activity levels faster than the rats that ate the standard diet. The rats on the prebiotic diet also had greater abundance of several health-promoting microbes, including Ruminiclostridium 5, compared to those on the standard diet. Previous research indicates that Ruminiclostridium 5 is associated with improved sleep.

These findings suggest that eating a diet rich in prebiotics can help restore normal circadian rhythms following disruption, such as would occur after working shifts or traveling. Learn more about the effects of shiftwork on human health in this episode featuring Dr. Satchin Panda.

• Link to study abstract.