Somewhere in the span of a decade, bacteria in the form of biotics have gone from tummy-trouble trigger to holy grail of gut health. What we sought to kill completely with a well-known medicinal pink drink is now a glorified healthy gut guru with its own aisle at the grocery store. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you think you\u2019ve unearthed all the biotics for better health, just wait. Here, Miranda Hammer, MS, RD, CDN and creator of crunchyradish.com (@thecrunchyradish), explains all the health benefits of postbiotics\u2014plus easy ways to incorporate them into your everyday diet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biotics make up your gut\u2019s microbiome, a delicately balanced habitat for trillions of microscopic organisms. Your microbiome supports everything from digestion to immunity and is as unique as your fingerprint. Your genes shape it, but what you eat influences it, and a diverse diet of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics keep your gut balanced for overall better health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the difference between all the biotics? Here\u2019s how it all breaks down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prebiotics<\/strong> are a unique type of fiber that the body needs but can\u2019t digest. But much like fertilizer to a plant, \u201cprebiotics are the food that probiotics eat,\u201d says Hammer. Some prebiotics that support digestive health include bananas, garlic, asparagus and oats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While research is in the early stages, benefits of postbiotics to whole-person health look promising. Postbiotics \u201chave anti-inflammatory properties, blood-pressure lowering properties, help treat IBS and have potential antimicrobial properties,\u201d says Hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another reason to start adding postbiotics into your daily routine? They can also work as a natural antidepressant. \u201cThe gut microbiome produces the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine that impact mental health,\u201d says Hammer. These substances are essential to everything from feeling more alert and sleeping better to managing social anxiety and depression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Try these simple food swaps to incorporate probiotics into your everyday diet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What about supplements?<\/strong> \u201cEating a range of fermented foods is my first choice so you can get a variety of microorganisms,\u201d says Hammer. \u201cPlus, postbiotics aren\u2019t live like prebiotics\u2014they don\u2019t have storage requirements and have a longer shelf life. But if you\u2019re immune compromised, unable to access probiotic-rich fermented foods or are simply not fond of the taste of them, a supplement can be a good alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Somewhere in the span of a decade, bacteria in the form of biotics have gone from tummy-trouble trigger to holy grail of gut health. What we sought to kill completely with a well-known medicinal pink drink is now a glorified healthy gut guru with its own aisle at the grocery store. If you think you\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1623350678:16"],"_edit_last":["16"],"primary_category":["3"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"_thumbnail_id":["551"],"post_views_count":["3156"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"_wp_old_date":["2021-06-08"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"primary_category":{"term_id":3,"name":"Food","slug":"food","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw"},"show_featured_image":true},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Probiotics <\/strong>are \u201cthe live bacteria found naturally in the gut that can help create a positive and balanced microbiome,\u201d says Hammer. Many fermented foods naturally contain probiotics. Foods that register the highest probiotics are yogurt, sourdough bread, kimchi and sauerkraut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Postbiotics<\/strong> are the end game to the biotic life cycle. Simply put, postbiotics are the healthy, good-for-you bacteria that probiotics excrete. So, when you eat probiotic foods like kimchi and sauerkraut, your gut produces postbiotics as it\u2019s being digested. <\/p>\n\n\n\nYour body (and brain) on postbiotics.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Eat Your Way to Better Gut Health.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n