You often hear of probiotics which are beneficial live bacteria and prebiotics which are the food for probiotics. Enter postbiotics, the newest member of the ‘biotics’ family and a hot topic in nutrition.
What Are Postbiotics?
Probiotics have been the go-to when it comes to maintaining your body’s microbiome for good health. In recent years, postbiotics have been gaining traction with emerging research. Postbiotics are bioactive compounds that are produced when healthy bacteria (probiotics) in your gut feed on various types of prebiotic food in your colon such as fibers. Although postbiotics are considered waste products of probiotics, they offer numerous health benefits for the gut, the immune system, and various other aspects of health.
Although postbiotics are not life microorganisms, they are still beneficial to your microbiome as they contain nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins B and K, short-chain fatty acids, exopolysaccharides, functional proteins, and substances called antimicrobial peptides that can help slow down the growth of harmful bacteria. Short-chain fatty acids help healthy bacteria thrive in your guts.
Compared with probiotics, postbiotics have lower risks of complications as they don’t contain life microorganisms. Even though probiotics are safe for most people, however, people with weakened immune systems, severe illness, or recovering from surgery can get an infection from probiotics. As postbiotics contain no life microorganisms, there’s a lower risk of complications.
Practical Benefits of Postbiotics
As compared with probiotics, the production of postbiotics is more economical. Postbiotics:
- Have a longer shelf-life
- Can be easily stored
- Can be easily transported
- Are not as sensitive to cold temperatures
- Can be more reliably produced
Health Benefits of Postbiotics
The health benefits of postbiotics aren’t fully elucidated, but they tend to mimic the health benefits of probiotics. Below are some of the health benefits of postbiotics:
- Boost your immune system.
- Help to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- May prevent inflammation.
- May prevent cancer.
- Have antimicrobial properties, and thus can prevent infections.
- Can support the formation of oxytocin, which can help heal wounds and support birthing functions.
- Can improve gut health such as reducing the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel conditions, such as ulcerative colitis.
- May lower the risk of food allergies in children.
How To Increase Postbiotics?
The best strategy to increase postbiotics in your guts is through food by consuming more fermented foods and prebiotic fiber, and then supplementing with postbiotics supplements if there’s a necessity.
Here’s how to boost the production of postbiotics in your guts:
- Eat more prebiotic fiber-rich foods such as oats, barley, beans, lentils, peas, onions, garlic, leeks, bananas, apples, asparagus, artichokes, green vegetables, flaxseeds, cocoa and tomatoes.
- Eat more probiotic-rich foods such as plain yogurt with live, active cultures, kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut (refrigerated), tempeh and miso.
- Take a postbiotics supplement.
Science-led Evidence
Research has shown that postbiotics can have direct immunomodulatory and clinically relevant effects. Evidence has shown that postbiotics can relieve symptoms of atopic dermatitis and different causes of diarrhea in healthy individuals, as well as relief symptoms of infant colic.
Conclusion
Postbiotics have the potential to contribute to the improvement of host health, even though the exact mechanisms have not been fully understood. As postbiotics are cell wall material and metabolites from the good bacteria (probiotics), consuming these metabolites would provide health benefits.
If you’re considering a postbiotic supplement, it would be good to do your research and make sure that the supplement has published data on their product along with third-party testing for purity and efficacy.
If you have digestive issues, seek the advice of your doctor before starting on a postbiotic supplement as every person is different and postbiotics may not be a miracle pill for everyone.
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