I need help choosing a good probiotic

After a lifetime of antibiotic use due to issues that had to be corrected surgically, my mother, daughter, and I had the worst intestinal problems. My daughter began her life with two straight years of antibiotics and has never had normal bowel function. I did great until I got hit with chronic sinus infections in my late 20's and my belly hasn't been the same since. Any hope of recovery was destroyed by yet another round and then another, and so on.

I know that a healthy gut flora is necessary for immunity, so we find ourselves trapped in a nasty cycle or more allergies, more sinus infections, more throat infections, more antibiotics, increasingly worse IBS, intolerances to more foods, etc.

Worse, good bacteria actually produce vitamins for us (Thiamine, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Pyroxidine, Biotin, Folic Acid, Cobalamin) and, just by coincidence, there are a few of these that we are chronically low on, even with supplements. (Especially Thiamine. Nobody can get their Thiamine levels to normal. Even the teetotalers and the kids. One of our doctors is getting very alarmed by this.)

We all need to repopulate, but all of the store-bought stuff will only give you about 4 species. There are supposed to be closer to 400 species in a healthy gut. The regular stuff does not work. (And we've tried. Lord, how we've tried)

I'm looking for *the* *best* probiotics out there. I mean something with at least 100 species that doesn't arrive in the mail DOA.

I'm the guinea pig. First a week of colostrum, digestive enzymes, and L-Glutamine, followed by a week of the bacteria.

If anyone has any other suggestions, please add it to the list! We've got to fix this problem once and for all.

I'm so desperate that I'm considering Helminthic therapy and I wouldn't say 'no' to a fecal transplant. (I'll do ANYTHING at this point!)

About 4 years ago I switched to Raw whole milk in my coffee.

After about a month, virtually all my allergy problems went away.

I now use Raw whole milk yogurt on my oatmeal every morning. I never have a problem with digestion.

There is product called ‘prescript assist’ which is used by many doctors I know. It’s very pricey.

http://www.amazon.com/Prescript-assist-Spectrum-Probiotic-Prebiotic-Capsules/dp/B00JB2GOFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412523020&sr=8-1&keywords=prescript+assist

Sigma-Tau VSL#3 (can be mailed-order in ice)
Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra
Renew Life
Advanced Orthomolecular Research AOR, Advanced Series, Probiotic-3

As you’ve probably figured out, typical room-temp store shelf PBs are worthless. The CFU counts were too low at time of manufacture, and by the time you buy them, the bugs are all dead. Look for 50 billion CFUs. Buy from the pharmacy or health food store fridge.

Yogurts and fermented foods usually have the same problem (low count, all dead if pasteurized), plus an inadequate spectrum of species to begin with.

Make sure the new bugs get fed. This means eating foods that contain resistant starches (RS, undigested in the upper intestine, but a food substrate for the bugs in the lower).

It is not yet known what the ideal gut biome spectrum is for humans. Studies on remaining isolated paleo-like populations like the Hazda are turning up surprising information. But people are seeing substantial benefits from current commercial PBs, plus adding RS to the diet.

In tough cases, FMT might be indicated.

I get my vitamins and supplements from Vitacost, shopping on-line. I had a lot of trouble with my guts in earlier years, but they now seem to be under control. I use Probiotic 15-35. It’s a bit more expensive than some of the simpler ones, but it has a great assortment of beneficial bacteria.

http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-probiotic-15-35-35-billion-cfu-240-vegetarian-capsules-4

You can also search the Vitacost site for “probiotics,” and they’ll show you some other varieties for sale.

I recommend taking Vitamin D, too, as a good way to cut back on colds and fevers and other things that call for antibiotics—which I avoid like the plague. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s not much choice. But Vitamin D cuts back on colds and flu and such.

DO NOT consume Splenda. It is very bad for your intestinal flora.

Splenda is comprised of the high-potency artificial sweetener Sucralose (1.1%) and the fillers maltodextrin and glucose. With extended use, the numbers of total anaerobes, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, Bacteroides, clostridia, and total aerobic bacteria were significantly decreased; however, there was no significant effect on Enterobacteria.

Enterobacteria is associated with obesity, in the very obese displacing other intestinal flora until it amounts to 1/3rd of the total. It directly causes weight gain and contributes to inflammation.

Two Phylum of digestive bacteria, the Firmicutes (mostly aerobic) and the Bacteroidetes (mostly anaerobic, found in the lower intestines), exist in a balance (75:25) in which the Firmicutes promote weight gain, not by toxins, but by providing better nutrition from the food their host consumes. The Bacteroidetes provide less nutrition. So if Firmicutes, found in most probiotics, are dominant, weight is gained. If Bacteroidetes are dominant, weight is lost. Bacteroidetes tend to dominate the flora of the elderly.

Both phylum are very important for good health, so it is best if you get a very healthy colony of Firmicutes, then strengthen your Bacteroidetes.

This being said, one of the best sources for quality Firmicutes is a yoghurt-like drink called “Kefir”, sold in most groceries. It contains 10 or more healthy strains of digestive bacteria. I would augment this with Activa brand yogurt, which contains another bacteria that creates bulk in the intestines, for even and regular digestive flow.

Before trying to improve your Bacteroidetes, you should also try and suppress other microorganisms that can harm you.

An overabundance of digestive yeast is common, called Candidiasis. The yeast produces many harmful chemicals, and may be symptomatic or not. The way it is reduced is by consuming coconut oil, which directly attacks it, and mostly by starving the yeast of sugars and carbohydrates.

Coconut oil should be consumed in small amounts at first, because a large die off of yeast all at once can make you ill.

On to the Bacteroidetes. Because these are anaerobic, you cannot increase them in pill form, as probiotics, so you need to consume what the Bacteroidetes eat that the Firmicutes do not. These are called “prebiotics”.

Doenjang (sometimes called Miso), the Korean form of fermented soybean paste (a condiment not common outside of Korea) (fermented by Bacillus subtilis, a Firmicutes, unlike Japanese Miso, which is fermented by a fungus Aspergillus oryzae), has been observed both suppressing Firmicutes and supporting Bacteroidetes, while reducing the Family of Enterobacteriaceae, including Enterobacter. Unfortunately it is fermented in brine, so a single Tablespoon has some 660mg of Sodium, about 27% RDA.

Whew. In any event, after you have built up a healthy flora of Firmicutes, you might consume a heaping tablespoon of this fermented soy paste each day to both suppress your Enterobacter, tone down your Firmicutes, and encourage your Bacteroidetes.

Another good bacteria that lives in your colon is called Akkermansia muciniphila. Technically it lives in and eats the mucin layer that lines your colon, that limits both bad bacteria and poisons from leaking through the cell wall and entering your bloodstream.

There is a combination of water soluble fibers, called oligosaccharide-enhanced inulin (not insulin), which is sold at GNC Health Food stores (about $30 a pound). While the Akkermansia bacteria do not eat this, other bacteria do, and it thickens the mucin layer. The Akkermansia responds to this by blocking bad bacteria and poisons.

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