Unlocking the secrets of the human body has always fascinated us, and in recent years, one particular area of scientific exploration has taken center stage—the microbiome. Nestled within our gut resides a bustling ecosystem of microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiome, which holds incredible power over our health and well-being.
Within this enigmatic realm, a trio of key players has emerged: probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics. Join us as we embark on a journey to unravel the mysteries of these different types of biotics and delve into the remarkable health benefits they offer.
All About the Gut Microbiome
The gut microbiome is made up of trillions of different microorganisms like fungi, yeast, and bacteria, with bacteria often being the most prominent and most important when it comes to your gut health. In order for your gut to stay happy and healthy, it needs to have a healthy balance of bacteria residing there. Essentially, this means that your gut operates best when it has a large number of diverse, helpful bacteria and a low number of harmful ones.
When your microbiome is balanced and healthy, it has the ability to impact not only your digestion but also other areas of your health such as your immune system, skin health, and cognitive function.
So what happens when this balance is thrown off and the harmful bacteria start outnumbering the good ones? When this happens, your gut is considered to be in a state of dysbiosis, or unbalance, which can impact your health in a number of ways. For starters, having an unbalanced gut microbiome can slow down digestion, make it more difficult for your body to absorb important nutrients, weaken your gut lining, and lead to digestive discomforts like bloating or excessive gas. The effects of an unhealthy gut can also spread to other areas of your body and have a negative impact on things like your immunity, skin health, memory, mood, energy, and focus.
If your gut health has the power to impact nearly every other aspect of your well-being, then that begs the question: what can you do to support your ever-important gut microbiome? While part of the gut microbiome is influenced by uncontrollable factors like age and genetics, there are a number of steps you can take to support your gut, like adding probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics to your daily routine. But what exactly is the difference between all of these biotics and how do they support your gut? Let us break it down for you.
Probiotics
Probiotics are living good bacteria that can help support a healthy gut microbiome. These beneficial bacteria are similar to those naturally found within your body, which means they can help seed your gut with good bacteria so it can achieve and maintain balance.
There are multiple sources of probiotics that you can take advantage of. Fermented foods like kimchi, kombucha, miso soup, sauerkraut, and yogurt are some of the best food sources of probiotics. If you aren’t a fan of fermented foods, then there are a number of different probiotic supplements on the market today that you can look into using. Just make sure you choose an option that only uses natural ingredients so you aren’t getting any of the chemicals or synthetic ingredients that often do more harm than good.
When consumed regularly, whether in food or supplement form, probiotics can help start and support healthy colonies of beneficial bacteria in your gut, which can come with a number of great health benefits, including comfortable digestion, improved nutrient absorption, boosted immune function, improved skin appearance, reduced stress, improved mood, and much more. Essentially, consistently consuming probiotics is a simple and effective way to help ensure that your overall health is taken care of.
Prebiotics
Often found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and wholewheat, prebiotics are non-digestible parts of food, like fiber, that nourish the beneficial bacteria found in your gut microbiome. In simpler terms, prebiotics are the favorite healthy snack of probiotics. Since these non-digestible compounds aren’t broken down by your body, they can travel down to the lower part of your digestive system where the majority of your gut microbes reside. Once there, prebiotics become food for the beneficial gut microbes, providing them with the fuel they need to grow and thrive.
On their own, prebiotics are able to help achieve a balanced gut microbiome, support bone health, and assist with the management of appetite. However, prebiotics can also be taken alongside probiotics to enhance the many health benefits of both. For example, researchers have found that taking prebiotics and probiotics together can support healthy bowel movements and promote a healthy balance of microbes all throughout your body.
You can get prebiotics from foods like seaweed, oats, bananas, barley, legumes, beans, peas, wheat bran, and flaxseed. Additionally, you can find them in supplement form, either on their own or in a supplement that combines them with probiotics.
Postbiotics
While many people have heard about prebiotics and probiotics by now, in recent years there has been an emerging interest in another type of biotic—the postbiotic. This type of biotic has not been as widely studied as the other two, but from the limited amount of research that has already been conducted, scientists believe the future of postbiotics is promising.
In simple terms, postbiotics are the compounds that probiotics and prebiotics produce. When the beneficial bacteria in your gut feast on those prebiotics that they love so much, they create compounds like short-chain fatty acids, enzymes, vitamins, and amino acids that have the potential to positively impact your health.
Since there is still much research to be done in regards to postbiotics and how they influence various aspects of our health, postbiotics supplements aren’t currently as widely available as probiotic supplements are. However, if you’re looking to increase the number of postbiotics in your body, you can do so by providing your gut with the two materials it needs to create the important compounds—prebiotics and probiotics.
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