The Science
June/July 2020 Issue
Discover the World of Postbiotics
By Mindy Hermann, MBA, RDN
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 22, No. 6, P. 20
Research shows these bioactive compounds derived from fermented foods may provide unique benefits to gut health.
First came probiotics, then prebiotics, and now there’s postbiotics, the newest member of this family of “-biotics” substances—microbes, food components, nutrients, and metabolites—that may affect gut health.
Probiotics, for example, are beneficial microorganisms in the gut, while prebiotics are substrates, often fibers selectively utilized by host microorganisms, that offer health benefits. Put simply, prebiotics are food for probiotics.
Given that people still confuse probiotics with prebiotics, growing use of the term postbiotics is bound to generate even more questions. So what are postbiotics? How are they related to prebiotics and probiotics? And how are postbiotics connected to the burgeoning trend of fermented foods?
Introducing Postbiotics
Scientists and gut experts have known about postbiotics and their benefits for years, but the term doesn’t yet have an official definition. Language has been proposed to define postbiotics as bioactive compounds produced by food-grade microorganisms during the fermentation process of a food or beverage, which are ingested in the fermented product, resulting in various benefits in the gut of the host.1 Fermented foods and beverages contain bioactive peptides and living microorganisms that could modulate immune responses and impact the composition of the intestinal microbiota.2
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Microbes in our guts have been connected to 95% of all diseases, from arthritis to autism. Scientists are only now understanding the massive impact of our gut health – and how it could contain the key to everything from tackling obesity to overcoming anxiety and boosting immunity. Several new studies have even uncovered that the mix of microbes in our gut—can reveal the presence of numerous diseases better than our own genes or blood tests.
“I am hopeful and enthusiastic that the community will reach a point where we’re able to develop microbiome-based therapeutics and diagnostics,” says Samuel Minot, a microbiome researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who was not involved in the research. “I think that this is within the realm of possibility.”
Although the exact means of POSTbiotics has yet to be thoroughly understood, researchers of a 2022 study published in the journal
Trends in Food Science and Technology believe the compounds found in POSTbiotics are likely to promote communication between the microbiome and your immune system. For this reason, POSTbiotics are being looked at as a possible strategy for preventing or treating COVID-19.
In addition to their potential to support immune function and fight viruses and chronic diseases, POSTbiotics are
believed to help reduce inflammation, reinforce blood sugar regulation, help obesity, and help maintain the
integrity of the intestinal barrier.
Various other studies have shown outcomes that include eradicating infections due to Helicobacter pylori (the cause of some ulcers), decreasing symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic unexplained diarrhea, and the capability to counter the negative effects of stress, depression, and insomnia. In a randomized, controlled study of 443 individuals with IBS, those who received POSTbiotics experienced a significant improvement in IBS symptoms, including a reduction in abdominal pain or discomfort, as well as improvements in bloating and abnormal bowel patterns. An Italian study found that, among patients with recurrent respiratory tract infections, the use of POSTbiotics led to a significant reduction in the number of acute infectious episodes and the need for antibiotics.
This small study from Japan among undergraduate medical students found that POSTbiotic improved sleep quality in males but not as much in females. Another study, this one from Israel, found no statistically significant effect of POSTbiotics on inflammatory or performance responses in soldiers undergoing self-defense training.
Many POSTbiotics will likely hit the markets in the coming years in various formulations, but GUTWIZE is creating incredible stories today.
