October 2024

Comstock Images / Getty Images “Probiotic” is a buzzword within the wellness space commonly used to market fermented foods––think: kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt. Brands often misuse the under-regulated term to sell their products solely because fermentation requires microbes, like living bacteria, to ferment the food. But, this is barely half of the reality. Prior to 2001, there have been only 760 papers about probiotics. Now, research has conducted over 50,000 studies with “probiotic” within the title. The industrial market of probiotics is hitting a high, too, reaching nearly $60 billion dollars in 2023 and projected to succeed in over $100 billion by 2031.  Nevertheless, the actual definition of a probiotic defined by the UN/WHO expert panel is “live microorganisms that, when administered...