My earlier post on Crohn’s Disease(CD) had some feedback asking for more herbs that are effective against Escherichia coli. This is not what a CFS patient want to use – their E.Coli levels are very low. This feedback was coming from Crohn’s patients because they could not tolerate some of the herbs. A person with Crohn’s that tried Mutaflor – Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 – (up to 3 capsules/day) reports much better symptoms and greater food tolerance since starting the Mutaflor. The Mutaflor replaces some of the bad E.Coli, but does not appear to be able to eliminate all of them.  For some people, several weeks or months of Mutaflor may be needed before trying/tolerating the herbs. Sorry, no overnight cures.

The key for this approach is simple:

We want to nuke the invasive strains and immediately repopulate with Mutaflor.

The following table should be helpful. I have ignored the extract method, I will leave that to advance herbalists. Some may require a visit to an oriental herbalist to obtain. All of these should be reviewed by a knowledgeable medical professional before starting.

It should be noted that resistance to herbs have been reported by repeat use [Study], thus two weeks on two followed by a different pair may be a good approach. Taking one capsule of Mutaflor (separated by 12 hours) may be beneficial. E.Coli is viewed as the most resistive of all bacteria [Study].  Less than 10% of herbs and spices will impact E.Coli – so make sure there is a study supporting the use of any herb, and not personal opinion. Because a herb work for a different bacteria, does not mean it will work for E.Coli.