Probiotics

maura_tasi

There are so many probiotic options out there. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions or advice on a brand to use? I'm doing my research but would like to get some feedback on here as well. I want to make sure I'm getting one that is effective and worth the cost!

Christine_72

This site has a pretty comprehensive list.

https://labdoor.com/rankings/probiotics

cmriverside

I just eat yogurt.

janejellyroll

Are you in the US? I really enjoy Farmhouse Culture products -- they make vegetable mixes (including sauerkraut and shredded beets) and what they call a "gut shot," a probiotic drink that tastes like pickle juice (which is great if you love pickles, probably not so great if you don't).

JeromeBarry1

I make my own. My own yogurt, kefir, kombucha, and kimchi. I consume at least one of those every day.

They taste better and are more versatile than gummies, which I've used before.

There's no such thing as a "best" commercial probiotic. They have features that may differ from one another and marketing pitches which try to persuade you, but you need to be aware that the state of the science of probiotics is quite shallow. We think we know that the gut biota influences the brain, we think we know what foods cause the gut biome to change. Exactly how, we don't know. We're no closer in 2017 to knowing than Chinese doctors were thousands of years ago when they mixed the feces from a healthy person in a soup which they fed to a person with symptoms of IBS, a treatment which is still being practiced with the insertion being now done from the *kitten* rather than from the mouth.

sgt1372

IMO, sauerkraut, kimchi and/or yogurt that you make yourself is better and cheaper than any you can buy.

Also IMO yogurt made w/raw milk (if you can find it) is better than that made w/store bought pastuerized milk.

skymningen

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

There's no such thing as a "best" commercial probiotic. They have features that may differ from one another and marketing pitches which try to persuade you, but you need to be aware that the state of the science of probiotics is quite shallow. We think we know that the gut biota influences the brain, we think we know what foods cause the gut biome to change. Exactly how, we don't know. We're no closer in 2017 to knowing than Chinese doctors were thousands of years ago when they mixed the feces from a healthy person in a soup which they fed to a person with symptoms of IBS, a treatment which is still being practiced with the insertion being now done from the *kitten* rather than from the mouth.

Ehm. I work with people who study the effect of probiotics on the human gut microbiota and the human host. Scientifically study, that is. I analyze their data.
While I agree with most of what you wrote, we definitely know more about them than Chinese doctors thousands of years ago. The problem though is, they work in much more complex ways than we would like.
Few commercially sold probiotics have been shown to have a significant effect. Some have. But there are generally caveats, I will collect some:

1. Only some strains of bacteria have so far been shown to have a reproducible effect
2. Even then, not every strain of bacterium works for every human
3. How well they work depends on a plethora of factors, like your diet (as in "what you normally eat" not the "trying to lose weight" kind of diet), the community of microbes already living in your gut, previous illnesses and medication you take and much more
4. Many of the probiotic strains are unfortunately having a hard time to persist, meaning, to settle in your gut and become a part of the normal community there. This is what we would like to have, but for now in most cases, your will just have to keep taking them.
5. The perfect world would allow us to study you and then suggest you the probiotics that would be beneficial for you. People work to achieve that, but we are currently collecting incredible amounts of data to gain the needed knowledge and analyzing all that will take time. I don't expect to see this solved in my lifetime, honestly.
6. People also try to understand how the treatment of the Chinese doctors works. They call it a fecal transplant. The US is actually fairly close to get a medication against persistent C. difficile infection on the market which will be based on this procedure. Don't worry, it will be inside a taste- and smell-less capsule. But the people developing this do not 100% know how it works. We (I mean "we scientists working in this area", I am not working for those people developing the fecal transplant pill, I just met them at a conference) suspect the beneficial effect is not at all based on single probiotic microbes but on some specific subset forming a healthy community. What that subset is (or more likely, what multiple subsets of this would be) is kind of a holy grail question right now and again, probably won't be answered anytime soon.
   
   In my opinion, as long as we don't have these community probiotics taking the single strains is more like a drop on the hot stone. Don't get me wrong. They don't hurt. Just save yourself from spending any horrible amounts of money on them or eating something that disgusts you. If you can find a nice, tasty yogurt with probiotic cultures in it that does not cost much more than any other yogurt there is no reason to not have that.

caseytoole

If you are interested in the microbiome and what to take, I'd suggest reading Dr Purlmutter's book "Brain Maker" which discusses this topic and gives some suggestions on how to make your own foods and feed your microbiome the nutrients it needs for your good bacteria to flourish.

erikfarrar

I would second and suggest trying to get them in your diet before any sort of supplement. Fermented foods with live cultures like kombucha, yogurt, kimchi, and kefir are all extra tasty ways of getting some good bugs in you. A mixture of several of these will give you a pretty rounded sampling.

I know personally that kombucha and kimchi are exceedingly cheap and easy to make at home, if you're willing and able. It'll save you tons of money (and it's kind of fun).

corinasue1143

skymningen wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

There's no such thing as a "best" commercial probiotic. They have features that may differ from one another and marketing pitches which try to persuade you, but you need to be aware that the state of the science of probiotics is quite shallow. We think we know that the gut biota influences the brain, we think we know what foods cause the gut biome to change. Exactly how, we don't know. We're no closer in 2017 to knowing than Chinese doctors were thousands of years ago when they mixed the feces from a healthy person in a soup which they fed to a person with symptoms of IBS, a treatment which is still being practiced with the insertion being now done from the *kitten* rather than from the mouth.

Ehm. I work with people who study the effect of probiotics on the human gut microbiota and the human host. Scientifically study, that is. I analyze their data.
While I agree with most of what you wrote, we definitely know more about them than Chinese doctors thousands of years ago. The problem though is, they work in much more complex ways than we would like.
Few commercially sold probiotics have been shown to have a significant effect. Some have. But there are generally caveats, I will collect some:

1. Only some strains of bacteria have so far been shown to have a reproducible effect
2. Even then, not every strain of bacterium works for every human
3. How well they work depends on a plethora of factors, like your diet (as in "what you normally eat" not the "trying to lose weight" kind of diet), the community of microbes already living in your gut, previous illnesses and medication you take and much more
4. Many of the probiotic strains are unfortunately having a hard time to persist, meaning, to settle in your gut and become a part of the normal community there. This is what we would like to have, but for now in most cases, your will just have to keep taking them.
5. The perfect world would allow us to study you and then suggest you the probiotics that would be beneficial for you. People work to achieve that, but we are currently collecting incredible amounts of data to gain the needed knowledge and analyzing all that will take time. I don't expect to see this solved in my lifetime, honestly.
6. People also try to understand how the treatment of the Chinese doctors works. They call it a fecal transplant. The US is actually fairly close to get a medication against persistent C. difficile infection on the market which will be based on this procedure. Don't worry, it will be inside a taste- and smell-less capsule. But the people developing this do not 100% know how it works. We (I mean "we scientists working in this area", I am not working for those people developing the fecal transplant pill, I just met them at a conference) suspect the beneficial effect is not at all based on single probiotic microbes but on some specific subset forming a healthy community. What that subset is (or more likely, what multiple subsets of this would be) is kind of a holy grail question right now and again, probably won't be answered anytime soon.
   
   In my opinion, as long as we don't have these community probiotics taking the single strains is more like a drop on the hot stone. Don't get me wrong. They don't hurt. Just save yourself from spending any horrible amounts of money on them or eating something that disgusts you. If you can find a nice, tasty yogurt with probiotic cultures in it that does not cost much more than any other yogurt there is no reason to not have that.

I think what you said was, don't look for the perfect probiotic, but rather, get a VARIETY of probiotic strains, by eating a variety of probiotic products you enjoy.