Has anyone ever told you you’re barking up the wrong tree? If so it probably wasn’t a Spruce.

Research from Finland’s University of Turku confirms that a compound in the bark of the Spruce tree is a powerful prebiotic that feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut and promotes overall better health.

The compound in question, galactoglucomannan, was extracted from the tree bark and then fed to probiotic cultures in the laboratory for study. The researchers found that the compound is the main component of a cellulose structure in the tree.

If A Tree Falls…

Cellulose is essentially energy. It is an organic chemical structure called a polysaccharide, which essentially means multiple sugar. It’s called this because it is a long-chain of glucose units; the chain can be several hundred to thousands of linked D-glucose units.

Cellulose is the world’s most abundant organic polymer, typically found in cotton fiber, wood, and hemp. Nowadays, cellulose structures are made in labs and added to packaged foods. The powerful prebiotic found in Spruce tree bark is an all natural way to keep your intestines clean, happy, and functioning properly.

The Prebiotic Man

The prebiotic was fed to 3 human probiotic species – Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bb12 (B. lactis Bb12), Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. All 3 bacteria consumed and thrived thanks to the wood-sourced prebiotic.

The thing about prebiotics is that we don’t digest them, much like fiber. Instead, when these compounds are eaten, they help the good bacteria in our gut to digest and move food through the system.

Open The Cellulose

Prebiotics like fructooligosaccharides (FOS), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and other oligosaccharides like galactoglucomannan (found in Spruce tree bark) can be found in a number of healthy sources:

Onions

Apples

Oats

Chicory root

Asparagus

Fibrous vegetables

And many more.

Bark At The Moon

The research also revealed that our ancestors consumer tree barks as a food source. Research from the University of Utah studied tooth enamel of early humanoid fossils and shows that our ancestors did indeed consume tree bark.

Considering their lack of scientists creating chemical compounds and packaging them in plastics to be eaten as foods, our ancestors most likely had a tougher time getting the food-essentials. They didn’t have any way to know what prebiotics are, they just knew that eating bark from certain trees made their intestines feel good and work properly.

This supports the fact that humans have long been eating all the goodness nature provides, from the fruits to the roots of the plants and trees, but also the bark and leaves for all their additional medicinal purposes. It also supports the fact that Spruce bark is a traditional digestive aid.

The compounds in the bark from Spruce trees feed and stimulate the growth of intestinal bacteria that make digestion possible. The Spruce tree bark also provides us with polyphenols and other anti-inflammatories which confirms that Spruce bark is a medicinal food.

Native American and other ancestral cultures have chewed the inner bark of Spruce tree to treat urinary tract infections, influenza, colds, rheumatism, and even tuberculosis. Externally, the bark is used on wounds to promote healing and prevent infection. Other cultures around the world would have consumed the bark from other trees, which leads us to believe there are multiple benefits ascribed to the bark from different trees.

Spruce Up Your Health

Spruce tree shoots are rich in vitamin C – Captain Cook and his crew used spruce beer to prevent scurvy and the food industry now uses spruce oil for chewing gum and as a flavoring agent in many foods.

Another recent study showed that Spruce bark was even seen to suppress Salmonella typhimurium in birds. Researchers discussed the amazing potential this new form of cellulose prebiotic has.

“Hemicellulose is an untapped natural resource, which can be produced economically in large quantities, therefore, the study of probiotics and hemicellulose together could also have potential for symbiotic formulations,” they commented. I say it’s time we tapped into Spruce – its bark has bite.

SOURCE: http://www.realnatural.org/new-powerful-prebiotic-found-in-spruce-tree-bark/