Understanding Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics

Prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics are all terms that are often heard in the health and wellness world, but what do they actually mean?

Prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics are all important for gut health, but they each serve a different purpose.

In this article, we will break down what prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics are and how they can benefit your gut health.

Understanding the Interactions of Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics

Don’t worry, your gut is teeming with an unfathomable number of microscopic critters. This is a positive development. These microbes, usually bacteria, form a microbiome, a tiny microscopic ecosystem in your gut. Because your microbiome is so vital to your general health, it’s critical to keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy and happy.

How do you go about doing that? The explanation is related to the interaction of prebiotics, probiotics, and a relatively novel “biotic” termed postbiotics.

What Exactly Is a Probiotic?

You’ve probably heard of probiotics before, especially if you’ve seen a lot of yoghurt advertisements. Probiotics are defined by the World Health Organization as “microorganisms that, when provided in suitable proportions, impose a health benefit on the host.”

In other terms, probiotics are bacteria that dwell in your digestive tract (and throughout your body). These beneficial microbes may aid in gut health and immunological function. Probiotics may be a good alternative if you suffer from occasional gas, bloating, or irregularity.

How can you get these beneficial microorganisms into your system? One method is to consume prebiotic-rich foods such as yoghurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, and other fermented foods.

If you don’t like sauerkraut, another alternative is to take a probiotic supplement, which is designed to deliver beneficial bacteria directly to your gut. Just make sure your supplement contains a prebiotic to ensure the bacteria survive the journey.

What exactly is a prebiotic?

All living things require nutrition, including the probiotics in your stomach. Bacteria require food as well. Prebiotics are the compounds that your probiotics feed on, and they are critical to the health of your microbiome. After all, if your probiotics don’t have anything to eat, neither will your microbiome.

What do bacteria consume? So, what exactly is a prebiotic? Soluble fibre is a probiotic’s favourite food. You may naturally feed your microbiome by consuming foods high in soluble fibre, which includes a variety of fruits and vegetables. (Which, by the way, you should be eating anyway.) Some of the finest prebiotic sources are:

• Beans, black
• Brussels sprouts
• Avocado
• Yummy sweet potatoes
• Broccoli
• Pears
• Lima beans are legumes.
• Carrots
• Apples

If you take a probiotic supplement, ensure sure it contains a prebiotic to provide sustenance to the bacteria in the supplement. Most prebiotics and probiotics supplements, for example, contain Inulin, a prebiotic fibre.

What exactly is a Postbiotic?

Now for something completely new. Probiotics produce postbiotic substances while they survive and thrive in the digestive tract. These byproducts can comprise a variety of items, such as bacterium food and even cell walls from deceased bacteria. Short-chain fatty acids are one of the most fascinating postbiotic components.

According to research, postbiotics may have a wide range of health-promoting qualities.

If all of that sounds appealing, you may be asking how you might get some postbiotics into your system. The solution is that fermented foods can be consumed. Postbiotic byproducts are found in the same foods that contain probiotics.

How Do Prebiotics Probiotics and Postbiotics Interact?

All prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics are part of the same system. According to Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet, “…prebiotics are the fuel for the probiotics who are the workers in our gut.”. “The end result of all the hard work done by the probiotics are the postbiotics.” 

Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics help your microbiome thrive, which may assist supply you with the support you need to be a healthy and thriving human. With all of the recent buzz surrounding postbiotics, some people may want to jump forward to the finish and simply look for postbiotic supplements. Instead, merely maintaining your probiotics healthy will cause them to produce postbiotics for you.

As a result, if you intend to take a probiotic supplement, you must first grasp the probiotics delivery technique. As previously stated, it is critical that your probiotics have a prebiotic to feed the bacteria. You’ll also want to ensure that the bacteria are protected at every stage of the route, so they arrive alive in your stomach.

In conclusion

Understanding Prebiotics Probiotics and Postbiotics

Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics are all important for gut health. Each one of these supplements has a different role in keeping your gut microbiome healthy. Prebiotics help to feed the good bacteria in your gut, while probiotics add new strains of good bacteria.

Postbiotics are produced as a result of pre- and probiotic supplementation, and they play an important role in maintaining gut health. All three of these supplements are necessary for optimal gut health; make sure you’re taking them all within your diet.

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