What Are The Most Common Types Of Probiotic Bacteria
Though there are many types of bacteria that can be considered probiotics, there are two specific types of bacteria that are common probiotics found in stores. These include:
- Lactobacillus.
- Bifidobacterium.
Probiotics are also made up of good yeast. The most common type of yeast found in probiotics is:
- Saccharomyces boulardii.
They May Cause Unpleasant Digestive Symptoms
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It is not known exactly why some people experience these side effects, but they typically subside after a few weeks of continued use .
To reduce the likelihood of side effects, start with a low dose of probiotics and slowly increase to the full dosage over a few weeks. This can help your body adjust to them.
If the gas, bloating or any other side effects continue for more than a few weeks, stop taking the probiotic and consult a medical professional.
Summary
Some people experience an increase in gas, bloating, constipation or thirst when they start taking probiotics. These side effects should go away within a few weeks.
Why You Should Take Probiotics With Antibiotics
Antibiotics play a critical role in killing bad bacteria. But as they destroy infections, they can also cause collateral damage to the good bacteria in your gut, which could result in diarrhea for a couple of daysor even weeksafter you stop taking the medicine.
So how can you get the benefits of antibiotics without the nasty stomach side effects? The answer might be found in probioticspills or even powders with live microorganisms that offer health benefits.
Your intestines contain around 1,000 different species of bacteria, with 100 trillion bacteria in total, says Dr. Lawrence Hoberman, president and chief executive of Medical Care Innovations Inc. If 80% of that bacteria is the good, healthy kind, the harmful bacteria stay at bay. But antibiotics change the balance in the microbiome, which may result in an increase in the harmful bacteria, he explained.
The immune system recognizes the bad guys and will try to destroy them. But in the process, it breaks down the intestinal lining and causes inflammation, and thats how we get antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Dr. Hoberman explains.
One study found that antibiotic-associated diarrhea affects between 5% and 39% of patients, depending on which antibiotic they take. But research shows that probiotics can curb digestion problems. A meta-analysis of 34 other studies found that probiotics reduce instances of antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 52%.
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How Might Probiotics Work
Probiotics may have a variety of effects in the body, and different probiotics may act in different ways.
Probiotics might:
- Help your body maintain a healthy community of microorganisms or help your bodyâs community of microorganisms return to a healthy condition after being disturbed
- Produce substances that have desirable effects
- Influence your bodyâs immune response.
How Effective Are Probiotics
Researchers are currently unsure how effective probiotic supplements are for treating conditions. Theres constant research on the topic. While many research studies have had positive results on the impact of probiotic supplements, more research is still needed.
Its also important to keep in mind that unlike medications, dietary supplements do not need to be approved by the FDA. This means that manufacturers can sell supplements simply with claims of safety and effectiveness.
Always talk with your healthcare provider before taking a supplement or giving one to your child. Supplements might interfere with medicines you may be taking. If you are pregnant or breast feeding, check with your provider before taking any supplement.
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Probiotics Dosage For Children & Adults
Children who are new-borns and infants need special attention in the determination of their dosage.
The use of a pediatrician is key in determining dosage. There are forms of probiotics that can aid in diaper rash, but at the same time, there are those forms that before taking, should the child be on antibiotics, it would not be advisable. As such, there is need to seek the doctors advice on both the dosage and strain to avail to a child.
Adults too have varying needs. If you intend to avail to an adult, , your health status is vital in this determination.
Packet inserts would normally indicate the strain as well as the dosage requirements. Researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Centre indicate that, as a general guide, take 1 2 billion colony forming units per day.
Use Probiotics To Your Benefit
By now you should be more aware of the potential side effects of overdosing on probiotics and how to eliminate or minimize those side effects. If you continue to have discomfort while taking probiotics, I recommend you stop taking that particular brand.
Because of the differences in dose, diversity, and delivery mechanisms, not all probiotics are created equal. One probiotic will not have the same benefits or side effects as another.
For example, a probiotic using one strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus may help your digestive health, but another using a different Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain may not have the same effect. It may take some experimenting to determine the right brand for you.
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May Contribute To Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth
A 2018 study suggested that there may be a link between SIBO and probiotic supplementation in people who regularly suffer from brain fog. It appears that the symptoms of these people improved when they stopped taking probiotics and started taking antibiotics.
The bacteria in your small and large intestines are usually somewhat different from one another in terms of species and strains. Your large intestine contains mostly anaerobic bacteria, which can grow without oxygen. These bacteria survive by fermenting prebiotics, the carbohydrates that cannot be broken down in the gut.
Small intestine bacterial overgrowth SIBO occurs when bacteria from your large intestine end up in your small intestine and start growing. Symptoms are often mistaken for IBS because they include gas, bloating, and diarrhea. Sometimes, SIBO can cause brain fog and short-term memory problems. In fact, SIBO is more common in those with IBS.
Although its not known what causes the bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, some researchers suggest it can be a result of sluggish gut motility. This causes food to spend longer periods of time in the gut, which in turn means more fermentation in the small intestine.
After Taking Probiotics Regularly I Started To Feel Super Sick So I Asked A Doctor Why
It happened at a Jonas Brothers concert. One minute I was singing along to “Year 3000,” feeling my happiness beginning, and the next I was in the bathroom trying not to throw up. My stomach hurt the entire ride home, and I remember thinking I must have eaten something weird or maybe I was getting sick. A week later, on a flight to Los Angeles to visit my brother, I started to feel sick again, and this time, my symptoms didn’t let up the entire trip.
After forgetting to take my nighttime pills for a couple days including the 30 billion colony forming units of probiotics I had recently started taking to help my IBS I started feeling better. That’s when I realized the two might be connected. Is it possible to take too many probiotics? And what exactly are the side effects? I talked to a gastroenterologist to find out more.
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Can Probiotics Hurt Me
For most healthy people, probiotics dont cause any harm. They are generally considered safe and are often given a try to see if they could help with various medical conditions. Theres a lot of research around the topic of probiotics. Scientists are trying to determine when and how they should be used, as well as how effective they are. Talk to your healthcare provider before starting a probiotic supplement because there are some cases where you shouldnt be taking them. Its always best to have the conversation first before starting a new supplement.
How Many Probiotics Pills Can I Take
However, common dosages for adults range from five billion to 10 billion colony-forming units per day. Take just one dose of probiotics per day. Some people may experience loose stools in the first few days of taking probiotics, but this goes away. Taking probiotics at the end of a meal may help to reduce the symptoms.
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Some Ingredients May Cause Adverse Reactions
People with allergies or intolerances should read the labels of probiotic supplements carefully, since they might contain ingredients they could react to.
For example, some of the supplements contain allergens such as dairy, egg or soy.
These ingredients should be avoided by anyone who is allergic, as they may trigger an allergic reaction. If necessary, read labels carefully to avoid these ingredients .
Similarly, yeast-based probiotics should not be taken by those with yeast allergies. Instead, a bacteria-based probiotic should be used .
Milk sugar, or lactose, is also used in many probiotic supplements .
While studies suggest that most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate up to 400 mg of lactose in medications or supplements, there have been case reports of adverse effects from probiotics (
39 ).
Some people experience gas and bloating when consuming synbiotics. Those who experience these side effects may want to select a supplement that does not contain prebiotics .
Summary
Probiotic supplements can contain allergens, lactose or prebiotic fibers that may cause adverse reactions in some people. These ingredients can be avoided by reading labels.
What Is Candida Overgrowth
Candida albicans is a species of yeast that lives naturally on your skin and in your gastrointestinal tract. Normally, Candida is kept in check by your friendly gut bacteria, but sometimes, it can multiply out of control.
The resulting infections can cause pain and inflammation throughout the body, both on the skin and in the gut or genitals. Candida overgrowth is most often noticed on the skin, mouth, and vaginal infections.
An intestinal Candida overgrowth can inflame and weaken the walls of the intestines, releasing toxic byproducts that may lead to many different health issues, from digestive disorders to depression.
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Dosage Amounts Of Probiotic Drinks
Since you can usually find probiotics in drinks or supplements, you need to understand the dosage amounts. These probiotic drinks and supplements are measured in a supplement dosage known as colony-forming units, or CFUs.
What does that mean for your product? Colony-forming units are the number of viable and live bacteria in the product. An average probiotic drink should have about 1 billion CFUs per dose for an average adult. While it seems like a lot of bacteria, it is actually on the low end of the scale. Most probiotic supplements contain billions of CFUs per dose, and some even have 100 billion CFUs.
If you want to find the correct dose for your body, you might want to consult your nutritionist or doctor. These professionals can help you figure out what is the proper dosage for you. In some cases, you may need just one type of bacteria for optimal health. However, some drinks do contain multiple species of bacteria in the product.
Whatever you choose, these probiotics can help your digestive system get back on the right track for a healthy and happy gut.
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Overdosing Can You Take Too Many Probiotics
There is absolutely no harm in taking probiotics in the long term, and there is generally no harm in increasing one’s dose of a probiotic supplement if you feel the need. Of course, this should be done in line with the individual manufacturers guidelines, and it is worth bearing in mind that taking very large amounts of a particular probiotic: Saccharomyces boulardii could possibly lead to temporary constipation in some cases. Even this unwanted side-effect would be temporary, and would be easily remedied by reducing the dose taken. Healthcare professionals can learn more about the research behind Saccharomyces boulardii on the Probiotics Database.
For more information, we also recommend the following article: Probiotics and Prebiotics.
Healthcare Profesionals may also like to head over to our Professionals site to read: Is there a risk of addiction/dependency with probiotics?
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So Is It Right To Take A Probiotic Before Bed
The question of whether or not taking a probiotic before bed is beneficial has been debated for quite some time. Some studies have shown that good bacteria can help regulate sleep cycles and improve the quality of slumber while other clinical trials found no effects.
The official word from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is that there is insufficient evidence to support this claim, but you may want to try it out yourself.
A recent study has found that the bacteria in our guts are most active at night and can potentially produce harmful substances when disturbed during sleep.
This means that if you take a probiotic at night, these good bacteria could become disrupted and cause more harm than good to your body.
How Long Should You Take Probiotics
A lot of research suggests that probiotics dont colonise the gut, so we need to take them every day.
Twelve volunteers in a study were given either a probiotic mixture or placebo to investigate the ability of five Lactobacilli strains to colonise in humans .
Most of the strains were still in the guts of the participants 18 days after they took the probiotic, but by day 23, only two strains were present, and by day 29 there was no evidence of any of the strains.
So if you find the positive effects of your probiotics wear off when you stop taking them, keep taking them! Theres currently no evidence to suggest this is a bad idea.
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Should You Take Probiotics
The “good bacteria” may help healthy people but aren’t formally recommended.
Probiotics are “good” bacteria touted to help maintain digestive health and boost the immune system. You can take them in a dietary supplement or get them from food sources, such as yogurt. But should you? They can be helpful in some cases, but we still need more studies to tell us if and when they are safe and effective for older adults.
Can I Take Or Eat Something To Increase The Good Probiotics In My Body
You can increase the amount of good microbes in your body through foods, drinks and supplements. You may already have certain foods in your daily diet that contain probiotics. Fermented foods in particular are home to a host of good bacteria that benefit your body. There are also fermented drinks like kombucha or kefir that introduce extra probiotics into your diet.
Apart from food, you can add probiotics to your diet through dietary supplements. These arent drugs, so they do not need to be approved by the Federal Drug Administration . Its important that you always talk to your healthcare provider before starting any kind of supplement or major change to your diet.
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How Can We Tell If Ingested Probiotics Stay Alive In The Gut To Provide Health Benefits
For more on the question: do probiotics reach the gut alive? Check out this post.
First, a number of experiments are done in the lab in order to examine their potential as probiotics. In these experiments, we check the following: acid/bile tolerance, antibiotic resistance, adherence to human intestinal cells and antibacterial activity.1, 2 Research has shown that the ability of survival in the gut is highly dependent on the strain.3
Another way of telling if bacteria can survive for a period of time in the human gut is to search for this bacteria in feces. The longer it takes to find these bacteria, the longer they remain in the gut and the more health benefits they can provide.
Many studies have demonstrated that indeed, good bacteria can be found in feces, even after 7-10 days of no probiotic consumption.4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, The drawback here is that generally, after stopping the consumption of probiotics, the number of bacteria detected in feces also goes down.
Also, it is important to mention that their presence in feces does not necesarily correlate with their persistence in the gut. The best indicator is by directly taking intestinal samples with an endoscope. More information on this topic will come!
Clinical Studies Into How A Probiotic Before Bed Affects You
A 2008 study found that taking probiotic supplements before bed can help you sleep better. In the study, participants were given a placebo for three weeks followed by either bifidobacteria or yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidus bacteria strains.
Participants who took the probiotics slept an average of 44 minutes more per night than those on placebo.
This may be due to how gut microbes interact with brain function: when our microbiome is healthy, it produces compounds like phenylethylamine which promote feelings of wellbeing as well as production and release melatonin this helps regulate your circadian rhythm so youre ready for deep restful sleep at nighttime.
If your gut isnt happy though, then your sleep can be disrupted and so too can your circadian rhythm.
Thats why its so important to pay attention to the gut health of children today, as they are forming healthy habits early on that can lead to more restful nights in the future.
Interestingly, those who took probiotics had better quality sleep too. This may be because gut bacteria help us digest our food better which means were getting more nutrients from the food we eat, and thats been linked to a boost in quality sleep.
Not only did people who took probiotics sleep better and longer, but they also said they felt less fatigued during the day than those on placebo.
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