Pre, Pro, & Postbiotics

Mistreat or misfeed the microbiome, and our life will suffer in unbelievable ways: depression, obesity, autoimmune disease, cancer, sleep disturbances, and more. Care for the microbiome, and poof: our life magically becomes easier.

Dr. Casey Means, Stanford-trained physician, expert on metabolic health, and the author of the book, Good Energy.

If you find yourself a little confused by all of the chatter around prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics, you’re not alone. Just when we thought we’d wrapped our minds around the idea that there were bacteria — good bacteria — living inside us, now we find ourselves trying to unravel the complex role they play in our health.

According to Merriam Webster, the definition of biotic in biology is, “of, related to, or caused by living organisms”.

All these “biotics” affect our gut health, which has a profound impact on our overall health. We can optimize the care and feeding of our gut microbiome by supporting our bodies with these three prefixes of gut health: Pre, Pro, & Post — biotics.

Probiotics: Beneficial Bacteria

Let’s jump in with the middle “biotic” here because most of us have heard of probiotics, and many of us take them as supplements.

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria and yeast strains we interact with in our environment. They naturally reside in and on the body: in our gut and mouth as well as on our skin. Some probiotic strains include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, Saccharomyces, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, and Bacillus, as well as more recently-researched strains like Akkermansia.

We interact with probiotics in our food and our environment. For this discussion, we’ll focus on those we ingest — either from food or in supplement form. While supplements can be a great way to support a healthy microbiome, they should supplement, not replace, a variety of probiotics from real food.

Low-sugar types of probiotic foods are our best sources here — think kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and plain yogurt. The refrigerated section of your grocery store might also stock other tasty probiotic foods like fermented beets, my new favorite.

When we eat fermented foods, the live microorganisms can establish themselves and colonize in our gut, contributing to a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria and promoting overall gut health.

These are some ideas my clients have used to increase their intake of probiotic foods:

• Top any meal (think eggs, stir-fry, salads, meats, veggies, etc) with a serving of fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut, kimchee, fermented beets, or fermented pickles.*
• Try a savory spiced yogurt as a sauce, a dip, or a topping for meals.
• Add yogurt to your snack or dessert rotation (keep it plain, unsweetened, and organic if possible, and add your own berries and/or a little honey).
• A new fermented food in my house is miso. I’ve been adding it to stir-fries and sauces, and it has a sweet, salty, umami flavor. To preserve the live bacteria, add it after cooking and avoid exposing it to high heat.
• Drink your probiotics! Try kombucha, beet kvass, milk kefir, or water kefir. Just be sure to choose low-sugar varieties of these probiotic drinks. I make kombucha at home and have been wanting to try beet kvass. Let me know if you have a good recipe that you’ve tried!

*Note that foods pickled with vinegar do not usually contain a significant amount of probiotics. If you’re trying to boost your probiotic intake, look for options in the refrigerated section of your grocery store that do not have vinegar in the ingredient list.

Prebiotics: Fiber & Polyphenols

So what are the “prebiotics” that we hear about?

Prebiotics generally refer to the fibers that probiotics use for food. You may have heard of prebiotic fiber, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

When we eat fiber, our body can’t actually break it down and use it for energy. Instead, it goes to the lower part of the intestines where microbes (the probiotics) feed on it. This means that, to support a healthy microbiome, we not only need to eat probiotics, but also prebiotic fiber that allows it to thrive.

Polyphenols also contribute to a healthy microbiome. While they don’t strictly meet the criteria of prebiotics, they do have a prebiotic-like effect on the gut microbiome.

Polyphenols are substances found in plants that often contribute to a plant’s color, flavor, and aroma. You may have heard of a few of the around 6,000 known polyphenols like lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon, curcumin in turmeric, anthocyanins in berries, catechins in tea and cocoa, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in green tea. Colorful fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts, and seeds provide our bodies with polyphenols, which not only support a healthy microbiome, but most serve us as antioxidants as well.

Tips for adding more prebiotic fibers and polyphenols to your diet:

• Eat LOTS of colorful vegetables and fruits. Walk into your grocery store’s produce department and look around at all the colors. Eating the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black) is a great way to get a variety of polyphenols every day.
• Don’t forget white veggies like cauliflower, onions, and garlic as these have prebiotic fiber and polyphenols too!
• Nuts and seeds are rich in both prebiotic fiber and polyphenols as well, not to mention healthy fats!
• Herbs and spices are an easy and delicious way to add more color and polyphenols to your diet. Think chili peppers, rosemary, turmeric, oregano, basil, ginger, cinnamon, oregano, and more.
• Drink your polyphenols! Cocoa, coffee, black tea, green tea, and golden milk are delicious easy ways to get more polyphenols.
• Finally, beans like black beans and lentils are yet another fantastic source of both fiber and polyphenols.

Postbiotics: The Magic in Your Microbiome

Finally, we come to the new star in the gut health discussion. This relatively recent area of science is beginning to get the spotlight.

Hippocrates knew in 400 BC that health (and disease) began in the gut. And now we’re beginning to understand why. Our health is inextricably linked to these powerful substances we’ve termed “postbiotics”.

Postbiotics are the byproducts made by probiotics (beneficial bacteria) as they consume fiber in the gut. So, just to be clear: probiotics eat prebiotics, then make postbiotics as a result.

There are many different varieties of postbiotics, which all play their own special role in our health.

Types of Postbiotics:

Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs):

Dr. Hartman wrote about the importance of short-chain fatty acids in his post on food and mood. These health-supporting substances, such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate perhaps deserve a blog post all to themselves, since they play many so many important roles involving:

• Balancing glucose production (gluconeogenesis)
• Calming inflammation
• Regulating cholesterol
• Supporting neurotransmitter production
• Healing the gut lining
• Supporting metabolic health
• Regulating appetite
• Regulating mood
• Preventing colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Microbial Cell Wall Components:

Yes, even parts of the bacterial cell walls can be beneficial to our health. For example, lipoteichoic acid, peptidoglycan fragments, and lipopolysaccharides interact with our immune system and affect inflammation. By influencing the balance and activity of immune cells, these components play a role in:

• Enhancing gut health
• Balancing overall immunity
• Managing inflammation

Enzymes:

Your gut bacteria even make some kinds of enzymes, which aid various functions, such as digestion and immune modulation. For example, the enzyme lactase, produced by certain gut bacteria, helps break down lactose in the digestive system, making it easier for those who are lactose intolerant to digest dairy products.

Vitamins:

Yes, your gut microbiome can actually make some vitamins, such as vitamin B12, folate (B9), and vitamin K2, which play important roles in energy metabolism, blood clotting, and overall health.

And more…

Other categories of postbiotics include healthful and hard-to-pronounce substances such as exopolysaccharides, bacteriocins (antimicrobial peptides), and phenolic compounds. These support our health in various ways ranging from supporting our immune system and inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria to reducing inflammation and protecting our heart health.

How can you support your body in making these magical postbiotics? By including a diverse range of probiotic foods along with prebiotic fiber and polyphenols in your diet, your gut microbiome will naturally do the rest.

These powerful postbiotics, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), microbial cell wall components, enzymes, and vitamins, contribute to everything from regulating metabolism and calming inflammation to enhancing immunity and supporting mood. Postbiotics hold immense potential in the science of healing and maintaining health.

The Bottom Line

The relationship between prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics is a fascinating emerging area of research. For some people, it can be motivating to understand the “why” behind dietary recommendations. If that’s you, by all means dig into the science behind building a better gut microbiome!

However, if you just want to know how to improve your mental, physical, and emotional health with simple food choices, here’s the bottom line. Regularly feeding your friendly microbes low-sugar fermented foods alongside a wide variety of colorful plants can profoundly affect our bodies and minds in ways that we’re only beginning to understand.