Justin Green serves as the director of scientific affairs for EpiCor, a Cargill brand. In this role, he is responsible for ongoing research and development of both existing and potential ingredients. His activities include clinical research, strategic planning, and representing Cargill at commercial and academic conferences. Green received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, did postdoctoral research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, and has over 18 years of experience in the field of dietary supplements.

Health E-Insights (HEI): It’s been said you’re only as healthy as your gut. Do you agree?

Green: It is incredibly important for your overall health to have a healthy gut. It has effects on digestion and metabolism, of course, but also can affect your mood, cognition, joint health, skin, and immunity. But it should be kept in mind that it goes the other direction:  A healthy body, spanning immunity, mood, exercise, and more, can help keep your gut healthy. Because of this, you want to keep the cycle positive with a healthy gut and a healthy body keeping each other balanced.

What sometimes surprises people is how closely tied immune health and gut health actually are. More than 70% of our immune cells reside in the gut. Additionally, because such a large proportion of our immune system is found in the gastrointestinal tract, food can impact the gut microbiota and also affect our immune system. There is still much to learn about the gut-immune connection, and research is ongoing. One thing we continue to see, however, is the positive role postbiotics like Cargill’s EpiCor may play in our daily health.

HEI: Research recently conducted by Cargill in partnership with KGK Science and published in the journal Pediatric Research, found EpiCor postbiotic may help support immune health in children ages 4-12. Please respond to the postbiotic findings.

Green: EpiCor has an established track record in adults. It’s the number one postbiotic, is trusted by a multitude of top supplement brands and health enthusiasts around world, and is backed by more than a dozen published studies. With this research, our aim was to determine if its immune support benefits also held for children.

Physiologically, children are still developing and have a more naïve immune system. They are also frequently challenged by acute upper respiratory tract infections. On average, children have 7-10 cold/flu incidences per year, with a higher incidence for children attending daycare or school. Clearly, immune health is important to families.

To fill in our knowledge gaps, we teamed up with KGK Science, one of the leaders in clinical research in the natural health product industry. The study was large, with more than 250 children enrolled, and spanned 12 weeks — so it was a huge undertaking. However, the results were clear: a daily dose of 500 mg of EpiCor postbiotic offered statistically significant benefits over placebo.

Notably, with EpiCor, caregivers reported reductions in cold and flu symptom severity and the children had lower severity scores on troublesome symptoms like sore throat and muscle aches and pains. It also found that children receiving EpiCor were less likely to need traditional cold and flu medication. Children given a placebo were nearly two times more likely to use prescription or over-the-counter medications over the 84-day study period compared to those who received EpiCor. This research adds to the growing body of peer-reviewed, published, clinical research supporting EpiCor (with this new children’s study, EpiCor now has 16 published studies) and showcases our commitment to delivering science-backed solutions across a variety of life stages.

HEI: The clinical study pioneered new research on several fronts. How so?

Green: This study was focused on children, so from a compliance standpoint, we knew it was imperative to use gummy formats as our delivery vehicle. Kids don’t like pills. However, while gummies are hugely popular in the supplement space, relatively few clinical studies use gummies. Our literature review found fewer than 15 studies with gummy formats, and of those, just five were in children.

While gummies are wildly popular in the supplement aisle, not all ingredients are viable candidates for inclusion. Gummy supplements have a higher water content than traditional tablets and capsules and require high heat and pressure in their manufacturing processes. With this research, we became the first to evaluate the health benefits of postbiotic supplements in children and one of the few studies (in any population) to use a gummy supplement.

“In the future, one of the things we’d like to do is extend our research with life stages. We’ve done the work with general population adults. And now we’ve shown how EpiCor benefits children ages 4-12. Up next: digging into populations like the elderly, or very young children, or even athletes. All of those different groups face unique immune and gut health challenges and these are places we’d like to understand better.”
— Justin Green, Director of Scientific Affairs for EpiCor, a Cargill brand

HEI: What makes Cargill’s EpiCor postbiotic unique?

Green: EpiCor is an innovative, science-backed postbiotic ingredient clinically shown to support immune health. Derived from the fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), EpiCor contains a beneficial mix of metabolites and numerous other health-enhancing bioactive compounds. This complex ingredient has a track record of success, backed by more than a dozen published studies. Trusted globally, EpiCor is also the number one postbiotic ingredient, having been formulated into more products than any postbiotic on the market.

HEI: There’s been a gummy explosion. Do you envision further trends in gummy development?

Green: Gummies have redefined supplements, making them more accessible to more people. No wonder gummies are now the top format by share, making up one-quarter of all supplement sales. Research suggests that number will only grow, as consumers, especially families with children, appreciate their convenience and taste. In fact, our proprietary research finds nearly seven in 10 parents prefer to give their children supplements in a gummy format. But they’re not just for children. While gummies may have originated as a kids’ supplement, they’ve found an avid following with adults, too. In fact, most gummy products (87%) available today are focused on adult nutrition. (Nutrition Integrated, Sept. 2024)

HEI: Are there any specific causes or initiatives that you hope to champion in the future?

Green: We’ve already built a substantial body of research supporting EpiCor, with more than 15 published studies, including eight human clinical trials. It gives me, and our customers, a lot of confidence in the product, whether it’s in tablet, capsule, or gummy format. And with our most recent study, we know it offers benefits to both children and adults. That’s huge.

In the future, one of the things we’d like to do is extend our research with life stages. We’ve done the work with general population adults. And now we’ve shown how EpiCor benefits children ages 4-12. Up next: digging into populations like the elderly, or very young children, or even athletes. All of those different groups face unique immune and gut health challenges and these are places we’d like to understand better.

But what I want to emphasize is that the research we have done today is very robust and very clear. A daily 500 mg dose of EpiCor delivers immune health benefits that result in more healthy days. And that’s something, young and old, we can all get behind. 

HEI: Where do you feel Cargill’s most significant growth will occur in the next few years?

Green: From my perspective, as the director of scientific affairs for EpiCor, there is so much opportunity within the postbiotic space. With EpiCor, we’ve spent a lot of time studying immunity, but as our understanding of the gut microbiome expands, it’s clear there may be opportunities for postbiotics that support gut health, cognition, joint health, skin health, and more.  It’s an exciting time and it feels like we’ve tapped the surface of the possibilities for postbiotics.