What Are Postbiotics?

Max writes:

I’ve heard you talk about prebiotics and probiotics but I just came across a reference to postbiotics. What are these and how do they affect our health or nutrition?

All three of these terms (prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics) have to do with the trillions of bacteria that live and work in our digestive tracts. Understanding the complex interactions between us and our unseen guests has become the leading edge of nutrition and health research. Everything we thought we knew about nutrition, digestion, immunity, and metabolism is now being re-evaluated through the lens of the microbiome. Who knew these little critters were so important?

Everything we thought we knew about nutrition, digestion, immunity, and metabolism is now being re-evaluated through the lens of the microbiome.

Probiotic vs. prebiotic

Probiotic refers to the bacteria that we get from foods (and supplements) that are thought to have beneficial effects in the body. The lactobacillus and bifidobacteria that we get from yogurt, for example, are some of the more common types of probiotic bacteria.

RELATED: Fermented and Cultured Foods

Prebiotic refers to the foods we consume that also provide fuel for the bacteria that inhabit our intestines. This fuel is mostly in the form of plant fibers from vegetables, grains, and legumes. We humans lack the enzymes to digest these fibers, so they arrive more or less intact in the large colon. Unlike us, the bacteria living there have the enzymes to digest them. Eating more of these foods can bolster the health and vitality of your intestinal population.

RELATED: Are Probiotic Foods a Waste of Time?

Synbiotic is another term you might come across. This refers to a product that combines probiotic bacteria with prebiotic fibers—sort of the way you might buy a product for your lawn that includes both grass seed and plant food to help it grow.

What are postbiotics?

Postbiotics is a relatively new term that’s been coined to refer to the metabolic byproducts of those probiotic bacteria. Metabolic byproducts is sort of a cleaned-up way of saying "waste products." But it just goes to show you that one organism’s trash is another organism’s treasure: These bacteria produce and excrete compounds into our digestive tracts, which seem to be responsible for many of the beneficial effects of probiotics.

As they go about their cellular business, bacteria produce (among other things) hydrogen peroxide. This may protect us from salmonella and other...

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