Ross Pelton, RPh, PhD, CCN
June 16, 2017
POSTBIOTIC METABOLITES is a term that refers to the vast array of compounds that bacteria produce as a result of their metabolic processes. Previously these compounds were referred to as “waste products”. However, scientists are now learning that many of these bacterial metabolites are essential regulators of health and life for all living things.
Bacteria and postbiotic metabolites are essential for all life on earth. In the 1800s, famous scientists like Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch taught us that many of the common killer diseases were caused by bacteria. Thus, for the past two centuries, most people believed that bacteria were bad.
We are now learning that the vast majority of bacteria are not only beneficial, but essential for life. Thus, I am writing this short article to help change people’s attitude about bacteria. I want to start by giving a couple of examples which explain why exposure to bacteria is a good thing, not a bad thing.
In medicine, they Hygiene Hypothesis proposes that a lack of childhood exposure to bacteria and other microorganisms results in the development of a weaker immune system and increased susceptibility to allergies and other health problems. This should not be seen as encouragement for ‘bad hygiene’. Instead, we are just beginning to understand the importance of natural exposure to microorganisms and that extreme attempts at cleanliness might have some negative consequences.
For example, most kids who are raised on a farm and kids who have household pets get exposed to a wider range of microorganisms than children who live in “clean” city households. Studies show that this wider exposure to microbes contributes to a stronger immune system. To be blunt, dirt is good.
YOUR MICROBIOME & PROBIOTIC BACTERIA: A similar situation is emerging in relationship to human health and the trillions of bacteria that reside in the human gastrointestinal tract. In the past decade, we have learned that diversity is a critical component of a healthy microbiome. This means that people with a wider range of different species and strains of bacteria in their microbiome will generally be healthier than individuals with a lower diversity of microbiome bacteria.
SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENTS: In the last two decades, the rapid advancement of genetic sequencing technologies has enabled scientists to begin studying the vast universe of the microbiome. It has now become clear that the health of all living organisms depends on an intimate interrelationship with bacteria. The health of plants, animals and humans is directly related to the health of their microbiome. In short, our health (and that of plants and animals) depends on how well we learn how to create and maintain a healthy microbiome. And, hopefully, people will begin to develop a deeper appreciation and respect for their probiotic bacteria and the vast array of postbiotic metabolites that their friendly bacteria produce.
THE TIPPING POINT: I believe that mankind and our planet Earth are at or close to a critical tipping point. It is imperative that governments and human societies understand how critically important the relationship is between bacteria and our health and the health of our environment. We must stop poisoning our oceans, our agricultural lands and our food supply with pesticides and herbicides. We must stop destroying the microbiome of our planet (oceans, land and human gastrointestinal tract) if we are to survive.
- OHHIRA’S PROBIOTICS®: It is an honor and a privilege for me to be the Scientific Director at Essential Formulas®. This gives me the opportunity to educate people about Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics® which is the best probiotic product available to help people rapidly transform a sick microbiome (dysbiosis or a pathobiome) back to a healthy microbiome.
POSTBIOTIC METABOLITES: Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics® are both different and superior to other probiotic products because only Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics® deliver postbiotic™ metabolites to the intestinal tract. This is because Dr. Ohhira created a multi-year fermentation process that simulates the natural processes that occur in nature. The production of Dr. Ohhira’s unique formula begins with 12 strains of probiotic bacteria and dozens of different types of organically grown foods. The bacteria then digest the prebiotic foods during the multi-year fermentation process, which allows them to produce a wide range of health-regulating postbiotic metabolites. Dr. Ohhira’s manufacturing system mimics the natural processes in the healthy human intestinal tract where an individual’s probiotic bacteria digest the food we consume and produce postbiotic metabolites which create, promote and maintain health.
Nature Know Best: Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics® utilize nature’s natural processes of fermentation, which allow bacteria to digest and breakdown food to produce postbiotic metabolites, which in turn, regulate human health.