MUC5AC and metabolic syndrome: Prebiotics increase abundance of Bifidobacteria, butyrate-producing and mucin-degrading bacteria. They have been observed to reduce body weight gain, dyslipidemia, inflammation, hypertension, and insulin resistance (Marcil et al., 2003; Tappenden et al., 2003; Galisteo et al., 2008; Delzenne et al., 2013; Kimura et al., 2013; Park et al., 2015).