In the past decade, probiotic supplement dosages have rocketed from millions to billions of CFUs, with some boasting as many as 200 billion. While more may be better when it comes to love and money, this is not necessarily —but can be — the case with probiotics. CFUs or colony forming units: a unit of […]
Articles
Saccharomyces boulardii
The Best Microbial Travel Buddy in Your Gut One of the only probiotic yeasts, Saccharomyces boulardii, can be described as the best travel buddy in your gut. A resilient traveler, who is always moving to find the next best place to visit, this budding, digestion-helping, pathogen-eliminating yeast is not your regular bread yeast. Saccharomyces boulardii […]
Probiotic Supplements: Single-strain or multi-strain?
The current marketplace is flush with multi-strain probiotic formulations. At first glance, the rationale for these types of products is compelling: more strains may hit more targets and maybe even add up to more than the sum of the single-strain parts. But is there any evidence that this notion is valid? In 2018, Dr. Arthur […]
Health Professionals’ Knowledge on Probiotics
Patients often rely on health professionals to guide them on probiotics. Questions abound: which conditions may benefit, which probiotic, what dosage and a multitude of others. Sorting through all the data and information available may cause confusion — not only in patients but also for the very people trusted to give advice. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, […]
Asked and Answered, AGAIN! Probiotics are safe!
written by Margaret Haldeman, Ph.D., Education & Communication Co-chair Probiotics are defined as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host” 1. To be considered a true probiotic, a microorganism must confer a health benefit when consumed in appropriate amounts. In order to provide a health benefit, this consumption must […]
Bifidobacterium longum
The Ultimate Party Guest to have in Your Gut Microbiome, Bifidobacterium longum Bifidobacterium longum is one of the first guests to arrive in your proverbial gut microbiome party – and, it is the kind of guest you want to have in the crowd! Bifidobacterium longum is a pretty cool looking microbe, a real crowd-pleaser, with […]