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Microbes and Probiotic

March 16, 2016 | 2 Comments | SAFM Team

For some of your patients and clients, the particular type of microbes in the probiotic you recommend makes a tremendous difference in whether the supplement will help dramatically or not.  Looking for an ideal probiotic for a client who has inflammatory bowel disease or a parasitic infection or an autoimmune disease? Be sure to consider Saccharomyces Boulardi, a beneficial yeast. This is also my go-to recommendation for traveler’s diarrhea. And an ideal species to include in a probiotic when a client is taking an antibiotic (to prevent more dangerous opportunistic infections e.g. C. Diff). There are many great brands to consider; I often recommend Metagenics “UltraFlora Acute Care”. Here is a clinical article with more details.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296087/

I hope this quick clinical tip serves you and your patients and clients.

Warmly,

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sharon chud
sharon chud

Tracy what probiotic do you recommend if a patient came out positive for yeast on a food sensitivity test?

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SAFM Team
SAFM Team
Reply to  sharon chud

As always, you need to consider the whole person’s situation and there’s no b&w answer to this question.
In general, if there’s a yeast sensitivity that comes up on an IgG test I would choose a probiotic without S. Boulardi as this may exacerbate the existing inflammation. It is important to keep in mind that the reason yeast sensitivity gets flagged on a test is typically due to past, recent of current yeast overgrowth that is often driven by either overuse of antibiotics, excess sugar consumption, toxicity, or combination of thereof. If indeed current, or prior yeast overgrowth is an issue, it would make sense to choose a full-spectrum lactobacillus-rich probiotic as these strains will help create an environment that will suppress yeast overgrowth and will promote healthie gut microbial balance.
You may want to explore these articles for more details:
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/62/9/1143/1745140
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16790461

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