Impact of Prebiotics, Probiotics and Synbiotics on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome

Changes in eating habits are undoubtedly the most important nonpharmacologic factor for the prevention and treatment of risk factors of metabolic syndrome and, therefore, nutritional therapies have been researched. The consumption of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics gained recognition from the scientific community due to the promising effects on health and well-documented history of safe use. Thus, this article presents a review of scientific studies investigating clinical responses of patients treated with prebiotics, probiotic or symbiotic, and raises the key issues to be considered by scientists in the search of dietary alternatives for patients suffering from metabolic syndrome.