Today’s podcast topic: taking all your questions about probiotics 101, and prebiotics! What are they, what do they do, who might need them, how do you know what kinds, how much, and how often you might want to take them, refrigerated vs. shelf-stable, ALL THE THINGS. 

A couple things to note before we get started.

Thanks to Just Thrive Health for sponsoring today’s podcast! Just Thrive Health is the first spore-based probiotic and antioxidant supplement available on the retail market that arrives 100% alive to your intestines.” Use the code “Dana10” for a 10% discount off your order at www.justthrivehealth.com

I AM NOT the #1 EXPERT IN PROBIOTICS. Or even #10, probably not even #100. So much new research constantly, that honestly, it’s hard to be unless you make it your job to be an expert in probiotics and not much else. That being said, just like my olive oil and kombucha posts, i did a lot of research on this so you guys wouldn’t have to. Honestly, I’ll probably have to constantly update the show notes for this (which I’m also turning into a blog post) as new research comes up. And if you guys find any cool cutting-edge research on probiotics or prebiotics for certain health conditions, please send it my way!

ALSO. Before we get started: A general PSA on supplements. Not regulated by the FDA. In the U.S., the FDA can regulate probiotics either as a food ingredient, as a supplement, or even as a drug. Most are sold as dietary supplements, which means they don’t require FDA approval before they are marketed. look for a 3rd party independent lab tested for quality, potency, purity – so you can make sure you’re getting what’s advertised on the bottle. I use sites like labdoor.com, emerson ecologics, and fullscript that do their own testing. Do your research (and double check mine!) 

Last thing – before we even get into probiotics today, we need to understand why they’re important in the first place. Our bodies are made up of about ten trillion cells. Your microbiome includes bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live inside and outside our bodies…and our microbiome cells outnumber human cells by a factor of 10. So we’re more bacteria than we are human. Kind of gross, but definitely really enlightening when it comes to what we should be focusing on when we develop health issues. The microbiome is not only responsible for whether we get sick or not, how our digestion is working, but can also affect our mental abilities and tendencies (ex. Towards anxiety or depression), our cognitive function, food cravings, how we break down and tolerate certain foods, etc. It’s a lot. And this is exactly why we need to be talking about probiotics – because we’re more bacterial than human, and sometimes, we need more of certain kinds of bacteria to help balance things out.

What are probiotics?

As defined by the World Health Organization, probiotics are “Live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. (Source) 

 

* In order to be effective in providing some of the health benefits listed above, probiotics should:

 

Survive passage through the stomach and small intestine to reach the large intestine

Produce short chain fatty acids from dietary fiber

Maintain colonic pH at about 6 (aka when they get to and pass through your colon, or large intestine)

Prevent adherence of pathogens to the small intestine and colonic mucosa

Adhere to human colonocytes and enterocytes and help repopulate or recolonize them

WHO MAY NEED PROBIOTICS?

There are thousands of studies documenting the benefits of probiotics, including skin health,