“All diseases begin in the gut”

Our gut bugs – Why should we care?

Within the last decade, research on the gut microbiome and attention to digestive health has exploded, as technologies have enabled understanding of the impact the gut microbiota has on human health and disease.

As a result, consumers are more aware of different strategies to improve the balance of their gut microbiomes, such as maintaining a nutritious diet and consuming prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics to maximize their health and well-being.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer awareness and focus on immune and mental health have also increased. In addition to ingredients like vitamins and minerals, consumers are seeking other solutions, including those that feed and help improve gut microbial balance. Now more than ever, consumers realize that having a healthy gut plays a critical role in overall health, including immunity and the mind. 

A person’s diet, lifestyle, medication use, and other factors all determine whether a person has more “good bugs” or less beneficial “bad” microbes in the gut. A diet containing an excess of foods that are high-fat, high-sugar, processed, and low-fibre can change the gut microbiota in ways that lead to inflammation. Although medications like antibiotics are intended to help fight a bacterial infection, they may destroy many of the good gut bacteria.

Over time, repeated antibiotic use or a poor diet, can negatively affect the diversity of the microbiome, and the bad bugs can overtake the good bugs. This can be a serious problem, since an unbalanced gut microbiome has been implicated in the risk of several health problems, including digestive disorders, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and depression.

Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics

Prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics are all connected within the same system. Prebiotics are the fuel for probiotics, which are considered the good bugs in the gut. The end products produced by the good bugs are known as postbiotics, which exert benefits to the gut and beyond. The classification of postbiotics also includes inanimate microbes and their components that confer health benefits. 

Collectively, prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics provide support for a healthy gut function as well as a thriving body and mind. While eating a nutritious diet containing plenty of fibre is one solution to support the microbiome, other solutions include taking dietary supplements containing pre-, pro- or postbiotics. Products on the market may contain single prebiotic ingredients or probiotic strains or contain mixtures of different prebiotics and/or probiotic strains in order to maximize benefits.