If you’ve finally come around to taking probiotics, we have important news. Postbiotics are here to upgrade your gut health all over again. WH reports on the bacteria that has researchers buzzing
You can always count on popular culture to make you feel like the last person to join the party. So spare a thought for those on the front line of the most talked about topic in wellness. Because while scientists were producing reams of research on pre- and probiotics for everything from menopause to mood, along came a new bacteria.
Postbiotics are quickly becoming the biggest news in gut health. Loosely defined as the by-product of your microbiome, they’re thought to deliver health benefits as diverse as boosting your immune system to treating chronic conditions. No wonder researchers are falling all over themselves to study them, with half of all scientific studies on postbiotics published since 2021. But the topic is generating interest outside the lab, too – Google searches for the term have increased by over 1,000% since 2019. So, what’s all the fuss about?
Post-biopic
If this is the first you’re hearing about the things, you’re in good company. Until a few years ago, scientists didn’t have a clue what they were either. In fact, they couldn’t agree on a definition until 2019. ‘We now define a postbiotic as a “preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host”,’ says Colin Hill, a microbiologist at the University College Cork in Ireland. ‘What we really mean is that postbiotics are microbes that have been killed but have still been shown by rigorous science to have a positive impact on health,’ Hill adds. Think of them as the gut version of Casper the Friendly Ghost – the dead (but still useful) bacteria left behind after pre- and probiotics have been digested in your body.
As to why it took longer than a Brexit negotiation to get on the same page? Egos aside, it was mainly down to a lack of expertise. ‘We’ve known about postbiotics and their potential for a while, but until recently, we didn’t have the knowledge to study them effectively,’ says Olivia Morrison, a nutritionist and dietitian at the health and wellness app Keep It Cleaner (KIC). And now that we understand? ‘This new research is redefining a lot of what we knew about biotics and the gut microbiome,’ explains Morrison.
Hot topic
But how, exactly? For starters, early evidence suggests that postbiotics can improve your body’s resistance to harmful bacteria by reducing inflammation, strengthening the gut barrier and supporting what’s known as the gastrointestinal mucosa (the innermost layer of the gut wall responsible for regulating your immune system). And thanks to h
