What Are Postbiotics and How Do They Improve Gut Health?

Author's Bio: Marcie Vaske, MS, LN, CNS

Hi, and welcome back to our channel.

Today we're going to talk about Postbiotics.

First we'll answer the question of what are postbiotics?

Then talk about how Postbiotics can improve your gut health.

And then follow it up with who should consider postbiotics?

But before we dig in, first, my name is Marcie Vaske and I'm a functional licensed nutritionist with Oswald Digestive Clinic. At the clinic, we see a lot of clients who struggle with their gut health, and sometimes postbiotics are the answer. I'm going to link our website here where you can easily make an initial appointment as well as our free guide, which is Five Ways to Improve Your Gut Health.

[Video Transcript Below Video - it is the same information]

What Are Postbiotics?

So digging back into our topic today, we talk all about gut health on this channel, and we mostly hear things about prebiotics and definitely probiotics. But what's underneath this is Postbiotics. First, probiotics and prebiotics are actually live bacteria and the food that feed them, whereas postbiotics are the beneficial compounds that these bacteria actually produce. And recently, postbiotics are getting a lot more in the scientific and into the research nowadays. And so postbiotics, as I said, are really the beneficial product or compounds that the probiotic and the prebiotics produce. So postbiotics are a bioactive compound, which happens when probiotics, bacteria actually feed and prebiotic fibers during fermentation. So we can think of postbiotics as an end product of a healthy microbiome.

Key Types of Postbiotics

So postbiotics are what we first would call short chain fatty acids. And short chain fatty acids are butyrate, acetate, propionate. Another post biotic is going to be enzymes, peptides, cell wall fragments, and polysaccharides, as well as vitamins B and K. Now, postbiotics are not alive, which really makes them more stable and easier to incorporate into a food or a supplement compared to a probiotic, for example.

How Postbiotics Improve Gut Health

So now we understand more of what a post biotic is, but how do they really improve our gut health? And postbiotics, what's neat about them is they don't colonize like probiotics do, but they really support our gut gut health in a much more powerful and even sometimes a more direct way. One way that they can help improve our gut health is to strengthen our gut barrier. One example of this is going to be butyrate. And butyrate, if you remember, is a short chain fatty acid, but it's a key post biotic that can really help the integrity of the intestinal lining. It supports our tight junctions within our intestinal tract, which helps to prevent leaky gut. Postbiotics can also help to reduce inflammation and postbiotics that reduce this inflammation can be very helpful with people who have inflammatory bowel disease, IBS or any other autoimmune condition.

Now, while they can reduce inflammation, they can also support our immune system. So certain postbiotics can help stimulate our immune cells like macrophages or T cells, and they help your gut to balance that immune system to stay alert but not overreact. Postbiotics can also help to balance our gut microbiota. And so because postbiotics are not live organisms, as I said, they're much more stable. They really create an environment to help support healthy microbial balance and basically keeping bad organisms in check or bad bacteria. And another way that postbiotics can help support our gut health is in the way of improving our metabolism. A specific short chain fatty acid can, which is produced by our gut bacteria, helps to regulate blood sugar, help support fat storage, and even control our appetite so they can go a long way in supporting our metabolic function.

Who Should Consider Postbiotics?

So as you can see, postbiotics really do help in multiple different ways. And so who would benefit most from consuming or taking postbiotics? Number one would be people with gut disorders. And these gut disorders may look like IBS, IBD, or even leaky gut. And because postbiotics, especially butyrate can help to calm inflammation, support our gut lining and reduce those symptoms of bloating or gas or discomfort.

Now even people who struggle with sibo, small intestinal bacteria overgrowth can benefit from postbiotics because they're not alive. They oftentimes don't create as much havoc. You're actually taking a probiotic. So keeping that, again, microbial balance in check. Other people who maybe can benefit from this would be individuals that have weakened immune systems. So people who really can't tolerate live probiotics. Examples would be maybe after chemotherapy or some sort of organ transplant or even comprised conditions. And so this is where you can put in the post biotic again because it's not a live material or a bacteria to support those immune system and help that individual bring up that immune system in a more gentle and maybe even more direct way.

Also, individuals who are just sensitive to probiotics in general, if you've ever tried a probiotic, you may have felt more uncomfortable than you did before you started them. And this is just an example of someone who's just not ready for probiotics. So by using Postbiotics, it can help to reduce gas, bloating, discomfort that you may get if you start with a probiotic.

Now, postbiotics can also play a really good role for people who are trying to improve their insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation, supporting healthy cholesterol levels. Postbiotics can help with people who are struggling with prediabetes or type two diabetes or even just metabolic syndrome across the board. So putting in these bacteria, or not even bacteria, but these compounds that help to just kind of bring up that immune system and help regulate our blood sugar can really make a big difference. And the last group of people that can benefit from Postbiotics is anyone who is focused on preventative wellness.

Even if you have a healthy, really supportive gut bacteria or you just want to put in a little extra something to help support that gut barrier, that improve your immune system and keep your microbial balance at a good level, postbiotics might be an answer for you.

Where to Get Postbiotics

So now we've learned what are postbiotics, who can benefit from postbiotics, but where do we get them? And the body actually makes postbiotics naturally, and this is when you consume probiotic rich fruit food or prebiotic rich food. So things like garlic, onion, asparagus, bananas, oats, also from fermented foods. So if you're consuming sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kimchi, remember, these contain prebiotics that make the compound into postbiotics. So we can also get postbiotics in supplement form. Now, research is still emerging on the ideal doses and strains for postbiotics, but there are some out there. One way to can take a postbiotic would be to do a short chain fatty acid.

Postbiotic Supplements to Look For

So there are supplements, especially butyrate, usually in the form of sodium butyrate that can help support our gut lining, as I talked about earlier, and reduce inflammation. There's also postbiotics found in fermented yeast derivatives. So you may see a supplement, for example, called Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, and this is a post biotic extract. So that would be another thing to look for. Also, you'll find postbiotics in cell wall fragments and peptides. Often they're derived from lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, and this is used to stimulate the immune response.

So postbiotics are a new and emerging area in gut health. We're still learning more, but I think it's another very important and really what may even be called a silent hero in our gut health. So if you're considering you've tried probiotics, prebiotics, all the things, and you're still not feeling well, postbiotics may be another consideration for you.

Again, I'm going to link our website down below so you can easily make an initial appointment if you're struggling with your gut health. And we can always talk about Postbiotics. And I hope that this video gave you a little bit more information on just other areas of gut health that are emerging and we're learning every day about.

So thank you so much for watching.

If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic.  We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.

Or you can just start by downloading our FREE GUIDE: 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE GUT HEALTH