lassesen 5:28 am on October 15, 2017

Are capsules the wrong way to take probiotics?

When I first received Symbioflor-1 and Symbioflor-2, it was a surprise because they were both liquids with droppers to take them.

symbioflor2

A reader forwarded me a link to an PDF/Scan article from 1993 with interesting results using Oatmeal Soup. Lactobacillus was detected for almost 2 weeks after.

“A new oatmeal-based product for enteral feeding has been developed recently (26).
Oatmeal is mixed with water, supplemented with an enzyme mixture, heated, and then cooled and fermented with Lactobacillus spp. The product not only has an advantageous
nutritional composition but also contains high numbers of viable lactobacilli.”

Of course, one of the challenges is that we may actually be using too low dosage, for example:

“In another pilot clinical study, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome received 24 billion colony-forming units of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota daily for 2 months, and a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms and a significant increase in Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria were observed (Rao et al., 2009). ” [2017]

This week I received probiotics from customprobiotics.com with instructions being:

PROBIOTIC POWDERS FOR ADULTS

Start with one adult scoop (0.8 gram, 200 billion cfu’s) of the probiotic powder first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (30 minutes prior to eating). Dissolve the powder in a glass of dechlorinated water and drink it. Do this ONCE a day only. Stay at this dosage for about 3-5 days.

If you are not happy with the results, raise the dosage to two scoops a day, one in the morning and one at bedtime. After one week go to three scoops a day if you still are not getting the expected results. The highest dosage we recommend is four adult scoops a day. You can always lower the dosage or stop taking probiotics for a few days.

Why in water and on an empty stomach? Simple — no food, the body does not turn on it’s acid productions (which it uses to digest food). If it is in a capsule, the acid must be there to dissolve the capsule… so the probiotics are immediately released into a dissolving-food acid environment.

These probiotics appear to Danisco originated probiotics, a Danish Company originally. Symbioflor is produced by a German company. Enterogermina is made in Italy and each serving is a viral of liquid. I suspect that unpublished research found delivery in water was superior. I also see the same with a probiotic manufactured in Italy. A Vet study (cited below) found that!

comprar-en-cafam-enterogermina-suspension-oral-caja-con-10-frascos-de-5-ml-precio-750x667

From comments on my post on L.Reuteri.

drops1

drop2

In animal studies we read:
“The method of probiotic administration can influence the performance and immune competence of birds, and administration via drinking water appears to be superior to the more conventional in-feed supplementation method.” [2008]

Bottom Line

Instead of capsules — consider:

Taking them in water (no chlorine or fluoride please!) before meals, or
Growing them (increasing their BCFU significantly) via yogurt or fermented porridge

B. 8:37 am on October 15, 2017

Thank you, I’ve been doing it all wrong! What dosage of GB Equilibrium do you typically go up to? It’s one of the rare probiotics that my body responds well to.
- lassesen 2:46 pm on October 15, 2017
  
  I have done up to 4 capsules (typically when I feel like I am coming down with something — head off the microbiome shift that the infection (“something”) may be starting.
thenaughtybun 9:21 am on October 15, 2017

So, to increase both yield and availability, opening capsules into liquid would be a good idea? Mix water with bimuno for instance, and add a capsule’s contents, leave on the counter overnight for a boosted probiotic in the morning?
- lassesen 2:48 pm on October 15, 2017
  
  Check the capsule contents against DataPunk, https://www.datapunk.net/substrata/display.pl?1678+S
  We see:
  NUTRIENTS/ SUBSTRATES
  Raffinose
  D-Glucose
  Ellagic acid
  Taraxacum officinale (dandelion root)
  Stachyose (soy oligosaccharide)
  
  So add some of those to the water… i.e. D-Glucose and keep the water around 98.6F or 37C to encourage the growth.
Hidalgot 10:48 am on October 15, 2017

What Ive noticed is that in my case, having SIBO, I only tolerate Mutaflor probiotics cause is inside an enteric coated capsule that only opens in the large intestine. If i open the capsule and mix with water, I relapse. After many hours researching, I regret that thee was a problem with my bile due to dysbiosis. Having not enough bile or sluggish one in the SI makes imposible impossible to tolerate probiotics, if they are not properly coated to only open in the large intestine, cause they contribute to the overgrowth. Mutaflor is the only product in the probiotic market that shows this. Hope others follow their example.
- innergardenpath 9:53 pm on October 15, 2017
  
  Megasporebiotic is one that is an endospore form, able to resist the acidity of the stomach and colonize the gut. Whether or not it is a good combo of organisms is another issue. Several ME specialists use it as part of their SIBO protocols. It is not budget friendly though.
jericho 2:58 pm on October 15, 2017

Interesting, about the Danisco origins of the Custom Probiotics. Where did you pick that up? I wonder how many other probiotics suppliers are from that source as well.

Poking around the Danisco site, I found this, suggesting that (parent company) DuPont is now deeply involved in micribiome medical research:

http://www.danisco.com/about-dupont/news/news-archive/2017/study-shows-dupont-probiotics-impact-intestinal-microbiota-in-colon-cancer-patients/
- lassesen 3:14 am on October 16, 2017
  
  A reader used the strain information (see this post, https://cfsremission.com/2017/10/09/a-solution-to-some-probiotic-challenges/ ) and they are owned and produced by Danisco.
innergardenpath 9:47 pm on October 15, 2017

Back in the 80s an orthomolecular physician who was one of the early functional medicine docs in So Calif. only used powdered probiotics. I had a severe Candida overgrowth and had it every where in my body, not just the gut. I do believe that the powdered variety was a huge part of my healing that and CFIDS back then. Appreciate finding out about sources for them once again.