....... Continuing from my previous blog entry, major credit goes to the Health Sciences Institute, the gastroenterologist Dr Georges Mouton and the sources listed at the end of this entry. As promised I commence the blog entry with discussion about the microorganism concentration in your probiotic dosage.....
4. Strength in numbers: A good, strong probiotic should have at least 1 billion microorganisms per daily dose... anything less would have a limited effect. To put things in perspective, the human body is home to over 100 trillion bacteria. So, even children need billions of good bacteria in supplements to reap their benefits. But there’s no point in taking a probiotic with a high number of 'friendly' bacteria if it is of poor quality.
5. Time of manufacture guarantee: Probiotics are of a delicate nature. Whether they are kept in the fridge or on the shelf probiotics will lose viability. This means that ‘billions count at the time of manufacture’ will decrease with time. Therefore high quality probiotics should be made with plenty more billions than what is stated on the pack. Always opt for a billions count which is viable until the time of expiry.
6. Too much of a good thing: In general, it is good to take a number of different probiotic strains. However, a high quality multi-strain probiotic will contain 5 or 6 different probiotic strains, and not 20. Too many probiotic strains have been shown to ‘cannibalise’ each other within the capsule. Make sure your probiotic supplement has been tested to ensure that the different strains used can survive together in harmony!
On that note, that is the end of today's blog entry. Next time, I will commence with a look at the importance of prebiotics (notice, not probiotics). What exactly are prebiotics? Find out in my next blog entry...
To your abundant excellent health
Dr Ike
Holistic Health Coach and Functional Health Expert.
Sources:
McFarland, L.V. & Bernasconi, P. (1993) ‘Saccharomyces boulardii : A review of an innovative biotherapeutic agent.’ Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease; VOl. 6. Pp. 157 – 171.
Hochter, W. et al (1990) ‘Saccharomyces boulardii in acute adult diarrhoea. Efficacy and tolerance of treatment.’ Munchener Medizinische Wochenschrift; Vol. 132 (12) pp. 188- 192.
Cetina-Sauri, G. & Basto, S. (1994) ‘Therapeutic evaluation of Saccharomyces boulardii in children with acute diarrhea. Annales de Pediatrei; Vol. 41 (6) pp. 397-400.
Dr Benes, Z. et al (2006) ‘Lacidofil (Lactobacillus acidophilus Rosell-52 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11) alleviates symptoms of IBS.’ Nutrafoods, Vol. 5 pp 20 – 27.
Vanderhoof, J.A. et al. (1999) ‘Lactobacillus rhamnosus (GG) in the prevention of antibiotic –associated diarrhea in children with respiratory infections: a randomised study. Pediatrics 1999; 104(5): e64.
EFSA Panel Members, ‘Scientific Opinion on the substatiation of health claims related to non characterised microorganisms pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) NO 1924/2006’ EFSA Journal 2009, (7):1247, pp. 64.
Chapman, C.M.C., et al., (2010) ‘Health Benefits of probiotics : are mixtures more effective than single strains ?’ European Journal of Nutrition; Vol 50 (1) pp.1-17.
Kumar et al. (2005) ‘Beneficial effects of probiotics & prebiotics on human health’ Pharmazie Vol. 60 (3) p. 163-171
Saavedra, J. & Tschernia, A. (2002) ‘Human studies with probiotics and prebiotics: clinical implications.’ British Journal of Nutrition, Volume 87 (6) Supplement s2, pp. 241 – 246.
Health Sciences Institute Publications (2011)
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