For years, the conversation surrounding gut health has focused heavily on two main characters: probiotics and prebiotics. You likely have a bottle of probiotics in your refrigerator or have made a conscious effort to include more fiber in your diet to feed those beneficial bacteria. This was Microbiome 1.0 – the initial understanding that living microorganisms are essential for our well-being.

But science never stands still. As we deepen our understanding of the complex ecosystem within us, a new player has emerged, shifting the paradigm of digestive health. We are entering the era of Microbiome 2.0.

The spotlight is now turning toward postbiotics. While probiotics are the beneficial bacteria and prebiotics are the food they eat, postbiotics are the “payoff.” They are the bioactive compounds produced when your good bacteria digest fiber. Emerging research suggests that these compounds, rather than the bacteria themselves, may be responsible for many of the health benefits we attribute to a healthy gut.

So what are postbiotics and how do they bridge the gap between beneficial gut bacteria and actually improving every aspect of your health? Let’s explore what this new era means for your wellness journey.

Learn more about our approach to holistic gut health>>

The Biotic Trio: A Quick Refresher

To understand where postbiotics fit in, it helps to visualize your gut as a thriving garden.

• Prebiotics (The Fertilizer): These are non-digestible fibers found in foods like garlic, onions, bananas, and asparagus. They pass through your system undigested to provide fuel for the beneficial bacteria.
• Probiotics (The Gardeners): These are the live microorganisms – the bacteria and yeasts – that reside in your digestive tract. They cultivate the environment and keep harmful pathogens in check.
• Postbiotics (The Harvest): This is the functional result of the gardeners using the fertilizer. When probiotics ferment prebiotics, they produce metabolic byproducts. These byproducts are postbiotics.

In the past, we assumed that simply adding more gardeners (probiotics) was the solution to gut issues. However, if those gardeners aren’t producing a healthy harvest, the benefit to the body is limited (1). Postbiotics are the nutrients, enzymes, and peptides that actually interact with your immune system, brain, and gut lining.

Read: Three Types of People Who Should Avoid Probiotics

The Science of the “After-Life”

The term “postbiotic” might sound counterintuitive – referring to something that comes “after life.” In scientific terms, postbiotics can include inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host. This includes the waste products of fermentation, as well as cell wall fragments from beneficial bacteria.

While “waste product” sounds unappealing, in the microscopic world of the gut, this waste is liquid gold. The most significant of these compounds are Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs), particularly one called butyrate.

Butyrate is a primary energy source for the cells lining your colon (2). It helps seal the gut barrier, preventing the condition often referred to as “leaky gut,” where toxins escape the digestive tract and enter the bloodstream. By strengthening this barrier, postbiotics help lower systemic inflammation, which is often the root cause of chronic fatigue, skin issues, and autoimmune flare-ups (3).

Shop: Encourage SCFA production in your gut

Merging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Discovery

At hol+, we believe that true healing integrates the best of Eastern and Western modalities. The discovery of postbiotics is a perfect example of modern science validating ancient wisdom.

For thousands of years, traditional cultures have revered fermented foods. Miso in Japan, kimchi in Korea, sauerkraut in Germany, and kefir in the Caucasus region were staples long before the microscope was invented. Ancient healers understood that these foods promoted longevity and vitality.

We now know that the fermentation process used to create these foods essentially pre-loads them with postbiotics. When you eat well-fermented sauerkraut, you aren’t just getting the cabbage (prebiotic) or the bacteria (probiotic), but ingesting a food rich in the organic acids and enzymes (postbiotics) created during the fermentation jar’s incubation period (4).

This confirms why dietary changes are often more powerful than supplementation alone. A supplement might deliver a specific strain of bacteria, but a diet rich in fermented foods and diverse fibers delivers the entire functional ecosystem your body recognizes and craves.

Related: Heal Your Gut After Antibiotics

The Wide-Reaching Benefits of Postbiotics

The influence of these compounds extends far beyond digestion. Because postbiotics can enter the bloodstream, they act as messengers to distant organs.

1. Balancing the Immune System

Approximately 70% of your immune system resides in your gut. Postbiotics communicate directly with immune cells (5), teaching them to distinguish between harmless visitors and dangerous invaders. This helps calm overactive immune responses (allergies and autoimmunity) while boosting defense against infections (6).

2. The Gut-Brain Connection

You may have heard of the “gut-brain axis.” Postbiotics are the primary language spoken on this telephone line. They facilitate the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine (7) (90% of serotonin is produced in the gut). A healthy production of postbiotics is intrinsic to mood regulation, mental clarity, and resilience against stress.

3. Metabolic Health

Recent studies indicate that postbiotics play a role in regulating blood sugar and insulin sensitivity (8). By influencing how we store fat and metabolize sugar, a microbiome rich in postbiotic production can be a powerful ally in maintaining a healthy weight and metabolic profile.

How to optimize your Postbiotic production

The beautiful thing about Microbiome 2.0 is that it empowers you to take control of your health through daily choices. You don’t necessarily need a “postbiotic supplement” to see results. You can cultivate them internally.

Prioritize Resistant Starch: Foods like cooled potatoes, oats, and legumes contain resistant starch, a favorite food for butyrate-producing bacteria.

Embrace Fermentation: Try to include a small serving of fermented food in your daily diet. This could be a spoonful of sauerkraut with dinner or a glass of kombucha.

Diversify Your Plants: Different bacteria prefer different fibers. By eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, you support a diverse bacterial community capable of producing a wide array of postbiotics.

Practice Stress Reduction: High cortisol levels can alter the gut environment (9), making it difficult for beneficial bacteria to thrive and produce postbiotics. Mindfulness, deep breathing, and gentle movement are as important for your gut as the food you eat.

Take a SCFA Supplement: For more support, supplements can help encourage microbial diversity and the production of beneficial gut-healing compounds like short-chain fatty acids and butyrate.

Related: Fiber Making You Gassy or Bloated? Ditch the Discomfort but Keep the Benefits

Frequently Asked Questions

Are postbiotics safer than probiotics?

For some individuals, yes. People with severe immune compromise or active intestinal barrier issues sometimes react poorly to live bacteria (probiotics). Because postbiotics are not “alive” and do not replicate, they generally carry a lower risk of infection or overgrowth, making them a safer option for sensitive patients (10). 

Can I just take a postbiotic supplement?

Postbiotic supplements are becoming available, usually containing butyrate or heat-killed bacteria. These can be helpful for targeted therapy, especially if your microbiome is severely compromised. However, for general health, your body prefers to manufacture its own postbiotics through the digestion of fiber (11). 

How long does it take to improve postbiotic levels?

The microbiome is incredibly dynamic. Dietary changes can alter the bacterial composition and their output (postbiotics) within as little as 24 to 48 hours (12). However, sustainable long-term health benefits usually require consistent habits over weeks and months.

A New Chapter for Microbiome Health

The shift to Microbiome 2.0 and the appreciation of postbiotics is a reminder that health is not just about what we take, but what we create. It is about the synergy between our environment, our diet, and our internal biology.

It can feel overwhelming to keep up with the changing landscape of medical terminology, but rest assured that the fundamental advice remains grounded in nature: nourish your body with whole foods, respect ancient traditions, and listen to your body’s signals.

If you are navigating digestive issues or simply want to optimize your family’s health, you don’t have to do it alone. 

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Contact a patient-care coordinator now for a free, 15-minute consultation. Our community and experts are here to help you decipher the science and create a personalized plan that honors your unique physiology.al at hol+ is to get your body to a state of balance where we can minimize reliance on strong pharmaceuticals. However, we honor the role of medication. If your body needs Western medicine to stay safe (like in CIDP), we use holistic tools to support your body while on medication, mitigating side effects and improving efficacy.