Future Prospects for Food Research in the Post-Microbiome Era

The intestinal environment, formed from dietary components and intestinal bacteria, plays a pivotal role in maintaining our health. Most studies have focused on the functions of dietary components and intestinal bacteria, separately. However, with the new concept of postbiotics, bacterial metabolites produced from food components as substrates, research including the perspective of the interaction between dietary components and intestinal bacteria has become important. In this paper, the importance of food is presented, including the viewpoint of postbiotics, in relation to the interaction between the intestinal environment and health.