Did you know that the trillions of bacteria residing in your gut actively influence one of the most critical numbers in your life: your blood pressure?

For a long time, scientists mainly looked at genetics, diet and lifestyle as the key reasons behind high blood pressure. While these factors are important, there’s another key player that was overlooked, the community of bacteria living in your gut. Imagine your gut as a bustling city filled with trillions of tiny residents (“bugs”), microbes of all kinds, working around the clock. These microscopic “tenants” don’t just live there, they’re busy helping digest your food, training your immune system, and even chatting with your brain. Past research has revealed that gut microbes actively influence blood pressure.

Good guys, bad guys and everyone in between

Researchers have found that certain “good” bacteria produce helpful substances called metabolites that can lower blood pressure. In contrast, “bad” bacteria produce harmful substances that can damage the gut lining, cause inflammation and lead to increased blood pressure. Whether a microbe is considered “good” or “bad” often depends on the specific substances it produces and how those substances interact with your body. But this isn’t always straightforward. The byproducts these microbes produce can change depending on things like your diet, how your immune system works and medications you may take. Even bacteria from the same group, such as Lactobacillus, which is typically seen as helpful, can act in very different ways. This back-and-forth between your gut microbes and what they produce has led scientists to focus on an exciting new question: Which specific bug-derived metabolites help control blood pressure? This is a fresh way of asking the question. Instead of exploring which microbes are in the gut, we’re now asking what they are doing. Just like Santa Claus wouldn’t be Santa without his iconic red hat and fluffy white beard, microbes may lose their so-called “good” or “bad” labels if we remove the specific substances they produce from the equation.

Postbiotics: Health benefits without the bugs

Understanding more about the substances gut microbes produce could help reprogram even the “bad” ones to start making helpful compounds. Many scientists are starting to explore this idea because these bug-derived metabolites may have a more direct and reliable effect on blood pressure.

The topic has led to growing interest in postbiotics, which are beneficial substances made by gut microbes.

Unlike probiotics, which contribute live beneficial microbes to the population within our gut, postbiotics focus on the beneficial products that microbes produce. People can gain the benefits of postbiotics in two main ways: by adjusting their diet so their existing gut bacteria make more of these helpful substances, or by taking the beneficial compounds directly as a supplement. The great thing about postbiotics is that you can get the health benefits they offer without needing to take the live microbes (as a probiotic).

It’s time we looked beyond the bugs, especially since it’s not always clear which bacteria are “good” or “bad.” As research progresses, I hope scientists will not only uncover more of these helpful bacteria substances, but also clearly define how they work in the body.