Proven Digestive Health Probiotics

[rcjordan]

I've been doing deep research on IBS issues.  I found the following article (excerpt below) and  expanded it by querying 3 AI chatbots on 1Min.AI to make it more current.  It turned out well, so I thought someone here might like a copy since probiotics are both a hot health topic and often a supplement scam.

quote:
The best way is to use specific strains that have been validated through clinical trials and published in peer-reviewed journals to show efficacy, and if possible reproduced by different groups using the same preparations. So the list of probiotics that have gone through this process is actually very short:
    • There is a product called Align, based on a specific Bifidobacterium, which is mostly for adults with IBS.
    • For infants and colicky babies there is some proof of effectiveness for a product called Biogaia, which has the bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri in it.
    • Then we have Culturelle with Lactobacillus GG, another one with a long record of scientific, well conducted studies, which has been found effective in treating diarrheal diseases.
    • Florastor, which contains a yeast [Saccharomyces boulardii] instead of bacteria, is also effective in treating and preventing antibiotic associated diarrhea. Children who get antibiotics often develop diarrhea, and in many cases that can be prevented by the use of Florastor.
    • Finally there is a preparation called VSL #3, which is a highly concentrated preparation of 8 different strains of probiotics. This has received a great deal of attention by the scientific world to treat a number of conditions. It seems to be effective for ulcerative colitis, both in adults and children, and it has been found effective in irritable bowel syndrome as well.
Outside of this incredibly short list, however, there is nothing else. There is no other probiotic that has been found to be effective in rigorous, controlled clinical trials. 

Do Probiotics Work? - UChicago Medicine (2014)
https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/gastrointestinal-articles/do-probiotics-work


AI FOLLOW_UP:
Once again, I turned to my AI 'workshop' for more current info (The first article was dated 2014).

My Prompt/Question to 3 top Bots:
 As of 2014, five probiotic products named Align, Biogaia, Culturelle, Florastor, and VSL #3 were validated through clinical trials and published in peer-reviewed journals to show efficacy. Since that time, have any other commercially available probiotic products been proven in studies to show efficacy?

Answer:
Since 2014, there has been continued research into probiotics and several additional commercially available probiotic products have shown efficacy in clinical trials. While the five products you mentioned (Align, Biogaia, Culturelle, Florastor, and VSL #3) were indeed among the early well-validated options, the field has expanded significantly. Here are some notable additions:

- Symprove: This multi-strain liquid probiotic has shown efficacy in several studies, particularly for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Visbiome: This is actually the reformulation of the original VSL#3 formula. It has been proven effective in maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis and pouchitis.
- Vivomixx: Another probiotic that uses the original VSL#3 formula, it has shown efficacy in various gastrointestinal conditions.
- Mutaflor: Containing E. coli Nissle 1917, this probiotic has demonstrated effectiveness in maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis.
- Miyarisan: A Clostridium butyricum probiotic that has shown efficacy in treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea and preventing Clostridioides difficile infections.
- Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (available under various brand names): This strain has shown efficacy in treating infant colic and other pediatric gastrointestinal issues.
- Bifidobacterium longum 35624 (Zenflore): This probiotic has shown efficacy in reducing symptoms of IBS and improving stress-related symptoms.

It's important to note that the efficacy of probiotics can be strain-specific and condition-specific. What works for one health issue may not work for another, and different strains of the same species can have different effects. Additionally, regulatory standards for probiotics vary by country, which can affect how claims of efficacy are presented on commercial products.

[ergophobe]

Thanks. I've been experimenting with some probiotics. I'll check some of those out.

Currently I'm on my first experiment with Fitbiomics strains.

Fitbiomics is the first company (according to their claims) to sample the microbiome from exceptionally healthy people and try to tease out what they have that they hold in common but which is uncommon in other people. I would say I've gotten some improvement in digestion.

A lot of probiotics are new strains of old bacteria (strains long used in yogurt, kefir, etc), because those don't need to go through a full FDA process. So Fitbiomics, like most, launched with those strains, even though their big claim was a new bacteria entirely which supposedly helps with lactate shuttling. I think that, however, is the last .1% of the last 1% of performance.

Also, at least one company has finally figured out how to scale up production on anaerobic probiotics, which will open a whole new class. Quite complex because any oxygen introduced at any point in the manufacturing, shipping or storage process inactivates it.


https://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/iff-to-bring-new-class-of-strictly-anaerobic-probiotics-to-market.html

[rcjordan]

The 1st five (the 2014 article) are all on Amz, along with the few I've checked from the AI list.  I've ordered the original V#3 (love the name) for a family member.

>yogurt

IIRC, the uni article said that the strains in yogurt are not strong enough to make it through the stomach acids.

+
I'm not allowed any active cultures because the may run wild due to the immunosuppressants.

[rcjordan]

++

I have 2 in my bookmarks that we may try for long-term maintenance.  Price was a significant reason for selecting them.

Culturelle Daily Probiotic Capsules, Most Clinically Studied Probiotic Strain
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025ASIRK

====

BioGaia Gastrus Gut Health Probiotic | Backed by 30 Years of Research
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AH3RT9Y

[ergophobe]

> IIRC, the uni article said that the strains in yogurt

I don't know that I have this right, but I think that if the bacteria is approved by the FDA, then every strain of that bacteria is. So a lot of the "next gen" probiotics are Lactobacillus and other bacteria that have been used for ages in foods and, therefore, don't require much in the way of approval. So a lot of the new strains are variants of old species.

When they ID a bacterial species that is wholly new in foods, then the process is much more stringent.

Apparently there is also Pendulum, which supposedly elevates GLP-1 without the side effects of GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic. Endorsed by Halle Berry no less.

https://pendulumlife.com/

The whole field seems a bit Wild West with a lot of claims. I think we're very much in the bubble phase, but based on interviews with some researchers in the field, I think this will be like the Dot Com Bubble, not like the Tulip Bubble.

Now that money is pouring in, I think a lot more strains and species will be identified and tied to particular effects, and analysis of your microbiome will get better (I know some people who tried two of the currently available commercial analyses and they were useless). At that point, I could see it being a basic part of pediatric medicine and, failing that or after a course of antibiotics or a colonoscopy or malaria, a tailored prescription.

Really interesting though.

[rcjordan]

> Wild West

Smells strongly of Supplements Scam to me.  Which is why I called in the bots to dig out any that were more than a gleam in the marketing department's eye.

[ergophobe]

>>  Supplements Scam to me

I think so. As an example, the probiotic I've been trying says that >60% of people who try it have an improvement in digestion, >30% have an improvement in sleep, >30% have an improvement in energy.

What it does NOT say is
 - what percentage of people given an inert placebo reported the same?
 - what percentage of people given the cheapest probiotic on the market reported the same?

What if it turned out that >70% of the people on the placebo reported improved digestion?

There's a lot of obfuscated stats (or obfuscated claims in general).

[ergophobe]

> ulcerative colitis

Vaguely related: "2 new therapies can treat ulcerative colitis" (both drugs, not probiotics)

https://www.futurity.org/ulcerative-colitis-therapies-3279122-2/

I am on month 2 of taking a newer probiotic and I am finding a noticeable improvement in my GI function.