Editor’s note –
May 2026

We’ve got used to using probiotics and prebiotics; now postbiotics are here.

This new form of gut support is starting to feature in research. Our cover story is an all-you-need-to-know report from nutrition consultant KATE ARNOLD that puts IHCAN readers in the know BEFORE postbiotics really take off.

Postbiotic products do not contain live bacteria. Kate describes them as the bioactive substances produced by probiotic bacteria and fermentation processes in the gut. They include short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bacteriocins, exopolysaccharides, cell wall fragments, functional proteins and secondary metabolites.

This research field is set to explode, just like probiotics. Clinical trials remain relatively few, often small, and sometimes mix probiotic and postbiotic effects, limiting firm conclusions, but postbiotics are already in practical use in animal agriculture – often instead of antibiotics.
Early research flags up potential in gut disorders (Less acute/chronic diarrhoea, support in IBD/IBS, better barrier, antimicrobial effects), immunity and inflammation (immunomodulatory, anti‑inflammatory, anti‑allergic actions), metabolism (effects on lipid/glucose metabolism, anti‑obesogenic, anti‑cancer, neurodegenerative disease potential), infections (Activity against pathogens, possible role in respiratory infections, tuberculosis), and possible benefits for skin, vaginal and oral health.

They are not a replacement for probiotics, but have some advantages – we’ll let Kate explain.

Mould expert JEFF CHARLTON is back, taking us to the next level of understanding of mycotoxin testing and treatment. Don’t lose sight of the big picture, is his take-away.

And in this issue we introduce a new contributor in medical herbalist MAGGIE POPE. Co-founder of The School of Herbal Medicine, she shares a troubling case of what she has termed “Clinical Dismissal”, which illustrates how women’s symptoms are still too often reframed as emotional states rather than physiological events.

As with postbiotics, we’re also keeping you ahead of the game on AI. Everyday search engines are switching on dangerously diagnostic bots, taking Dr Google to new extremes. MIKE ASH points out that it’s odds-on your next client has “consulted” AI before seeing you and explains where this is all headed.

Enjoy our bang-up-to-date news and research: this month the biggest news is that Dr DALE BREDESEN was right all along: we’ve got all the details in the new Cochrane review that has damned decades of amyloid-focused Alzheimer’s research. All that has done is produce drugs whose results are “trivial”, Cochrane say.