Probiotics Archives

Research promising for probiotics in boosting immunity to hay fever

Taking a probiotic is one of the best and healthiest ways to strengthen your immune system naturally and safely, especially during the cold winter months when the flu virus spreads.

Boosting your immune system via probiotics may soon be a new method for treating common hay fever, according to a new study published by PLOS ONE.

A common condition that looks and feels like a cold, hay fever shares many of the symptoms – runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, sneezing and sinus pressure – but isn’t triggered by a virus.

Previous research by the UK-based Institute of Food Research discovered a drink containing the probiotic strain of the Lactobacillus casei bacterium – one of the 10 beneficial bacteria contained in EndoMune – altered how test subjects reacted to exposure to grass pollen, as measured by microscopic changes in their collective immune systems.

Is Your Nose Itchy?

For this latest study, 60 participants were given daily drinks for 16 weeks during a season when hay fever wouldn’t affect their health or test results. One group consumed a drink with no probiotic bacterium, while the other was given the drink containing a proprietary strain of Lactobacillus casei. Blood and allergy tests were conducted before and after the 16-week period to measure reactions to pollen.

The study found that people who drank probiotics showed immunity changes in their blood and nasal cavities. Despite these changes, researchers were unable to find measurable effects on the symptoms of hay fever.

Researchers are considering another study conducted during the prime “allergy” season to measure reactions to more realistic exposures to pollen.

Can Probiotics Defeat Hay Fever?

Your body is under constant attack from all sorts of external stimuli, from superbugs to pollen swimming in the air, all of it revving up and depleting your immune system.

Taking a probiotic like EndoMune, with its multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, is the easiest and safest way to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria for good gut health.

Research promising for probiotics in boosting immunity to hay fever Read More »

Do you use a probiotic to protect your tooth health?

Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Medical science has established that good dental hygiene promotes overall health by stabilizing blood sugar and lowering risk for infections and heart disease.

But did you know that new research shows probiotics may also be the go-to weapon to protect your teeth and body from a growing host of health challenges?

A recent study, published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, found that taking a probiotic containing Lactobacillus Reuteri may offer “significant, additional clinical improvements” compared to root planning and scaling (one invasive method to prevent gum disease from becoming more severe) for patients dealing with chronic periodontitis.

Probiotics Could be Easier Than Standard Dental Treatments

Patients who took a probiotic lozenge twice a day were 53 percent less likely to have deep dental pockets, a common health problem associated with periodontitis, compared to those given a placebo. When teeth succumb to periodontitis, gums pull away from teeth, forming spaces that become infected, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Periodontitis spurs the body’s immune system into action, as plaque spreads and grows below the gum line. The combination of the body’s natural immune response and bacterial toxins start breaking down the connective tissue and bone that keep teeth in place.

If periodontitis isn’t treated, the gums, bones and tissues supporting the teeth are destroyed. This could lead to loose teeth that need to be removed.

More Studies Confirm the Value of Probiotics in Protecting Teeth

Interestingly, this isn’t the only study that has found probiotics protect teeth, according to the Academy of General Dentistry’s The Daily Grind.

A 2011 study determined a combination of milk containing probiotics and fluoride may reverse primary root caries lesions (PRCL) in patients age 58-84.
Chewing gum containing the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri may decrease inflammation, according to a 2009 study.
Lactobacillus reuteri was also at the heart of a 2006 study as the probiotic bacteria was found to reduce levels of gingivitis and plaque in patients experiencing moderate to severe gingivitis.

Here’s one more healthy reminder about protecting the health of your teeth and body: If you’re using a standard brand of toothpaste, check the label to ensure it doesn’t contain triclosan, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial compound that has been linked to endocrine disruptions, antibiotic-resistant infections and superbugs.

Even as manufacturers have begun phasing out triclosan, the CDC raised new health concerns. A recent report found a 50 percent increase in triclosan levels across all U.S. demographic levels.

All the more reason everyone should take a probiotic.

Do you use a probiotic to protect your tooth health? Read More »

EndoMune Interview: Dr. Josephine Ruiz-Healy

Children’s Health, Misc, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

This week we’re kicking off an ongoing series of interviews with noted health care experts who consider good gut health essential in treating a wide variety of health issues.

Our first interview with Dr. Josephine Ruiz-Healy discusses the various gut health benefits probiotics provide children. Dr. Ruiz-Healy is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at San Antonio. In private practice for two decades in San Antonio, she is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Integrative Holistic Medicine.

A relatively recent trend in American medical circles, integrative medicine focuses on treating the mind, body and spirit – at the same time by using the best of conventional and alternative therapies to facilitate the body’s innate healing responses, naturally and effectively.

Dr. Ruiz-Healy discusses how probiotics, good gut health and other integrative health tips can help babies get started on the right foot, along with avoiding antibiotics as often as possible.

Recent studies have reported mixed results about probiotics being an effective treatment for colic. Have you found probiotics to be helpful?

There has been mixed results in limited studies. The studies themselves show wide variability in their designs and parameters to offer definite results. However, it is a fact that infants with colic have a different intestinal microbiota than their “non-colicky” counterparts. Colicky infants have mainly coliforms that are not well colonized with Lactobacillus.

A different pattern is also seen in babies not colonized at birth who are born via Caesarean section and infants who are not breast-fed. We find the use of probiotics to be beneficial in some of our colicky babies who have these commonalities. Choosing the right probiotic is important. Not all are created equal and they all have different functions.

Multivitamins can cause constipation for some kids. Can probiotics and a healthy diet help?

We try not to use multivitamins that have iron if we do not need to supplement for this deficiency. But, without a doubt, trying to eliminate processed foods and over-cooked foods that indeed change your microbiota and substituting them with foods that have their own healthy biofilm and increasing their water consumption certainly change the microflora.

How do children benefit most from taking a probiotic?

Children are living in a toxic “artificial” environment now. That toxicity is interpreted by many scared parents as “too many germs” and not realizing we are more bacteria than human cells.

We try to eliminate everything that seems “contaminated.” We sterilize our homes but our children attend day cares where they get sick. Also, that illness in many instances is treated with antibiotics regardless if it is warranted or not, and kills the good bacteria in our gut further compromising our immunity.

Probiotics help fill that void we have because of life in the 21st century. A good blend of live probiotics seems essential to protect our kids and help them develop and maintain a healthy immune system.

What does good gut health mean for young children?

Good gut health translates to a good immunity.

There is research ongoing that the microbiota in infants is different for infants who develop allergic diseases, at all system levels. This is influenced by many external factors. We can change some of these factors by keeping, via the adequate mix of probiotics, a healthy gut microbiota.

When do you prescribe a probiotic to a young patient?

We recommend probiotics to infants who are bottle-fed, breast-fed infants whose mothers are on antibiotics or do not plan to breastfeed long, infants entering day care and fussy colicky infants who have no other underlying problems. It is essential children have a healthy gut microbiota before age 2!

Physicians are finally realizing the overprescribing of antibiotics is a serious health problem, although certain conditions require them. How do you advise parents?

Whenever we have children on antibiotics, we recommend probiotics rich in S. boulardi and we recommend they stay on them for at least a month before they change to a different mix of probiotics.

What other integrative health tips can you suggest to parents wanting to bolster their child’s gut health in addition to probiotics?

Avoid toxins!
Having parents understand that some fever is good for you and it is not a disease, and physicians taking the time to explain why not every time a child gets sick he/she needs antibiotics.
Give them vitamins every day.
Serve kids at least 6 servings per day of veggies and fruit, because it is the junk and processed foods that hurt them.
Decrease milk products.
Make kids get outside and play everyday.
Do not apply sunblock every time a kid goes outside. Let them get sunblock-free sun for at least 10 minutes.
Limit the time playing video games and watching TV.

EndoMune Interview: Dr. Josephine Ruiz-Healy Read More »

10 Ways to Protect Yourself this Flu Season

Disease, Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

With autumn upon us and cooler temperatures on the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already begun posting comprehensive dos and don’ts about the 2013-14 flu season (that can begin as early as October and end as late as May). These reminders include all the reasons you absolutely need to get a flu shot.

However, if you’re feeling a little shy about getting a flu shot, there’s plenty you and your family can do to protect yourselves from the flu. Here are 10 completely safe, effective and natural ways to protect your health from the flu and boost your immune system naturally without a flu shot.

1) Wash your hands early and often with plain ol’ soap and water for at least 15 seconds to get rid of germs that may linger. There’s no need to use antibacterial soaps.

2) Don’t forget the exercise. Staying active with some kind of exercise program will help you stay a few steps ahead of the flu.

3) Get the right amount of sleep you need every night. Skipping valuable sleep time to catch the end of a late football game will catch up to you over time, leaving your body vulnerable to diseases like the flu.

4) Don’t overdo the antibiotics. Taking antibiotics every time you’re sick can deplete your immune system residing in your gut, leaving your body more vulnerable to disease.

5) Drink plenty of water. Depleting your body of the natural fluids it needs is one more variable among many that makes your body more vulnerable to the flu.

6) Keep your home extra clean to repel the bugs. According to the CDC, human flu viruses can survive as long as 8 hours on common surfaces (doorknobs, books and doors).

7) Take care of your emotions. Our go-go-go lifestyles don’t leave much time for you to handle stress as well as you should, so give yourself the gift of time—ideally 30 minutes a day—for you.

8) Eat the right foods, every day all the time. Even something as simple as a hot liquid like chicken soup may more helpful in treating congestion than consuming the same thing at room temperature.

9) Get enough vitamin D. However, before supplementing your diet with vitamin D, health experts like the Vitamin D Council recommend getting your blood levels checked often.

10) Take a multi-strain probiotic every day gives your body’s immune system a much-needed boost. Not only can taking a multi-species probiotic restore the healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, but it also boosts your body’s immunities naturally and safely.

Also, studies have shown probiotics containing lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium lactus strains like EndoMune Jr. can decrease cold and flu symptoms in kids, too.

10 Ways to Protect Yourself this Flu Season Read More »

Protecting your gut-brain axis with probiotics

Mental Health, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Do you realize how strong the connection between your brain and intestines, which is better known as the gut-brain axis, really is?

For example, you may feel that connection painfully or positively when you’re feeling anxious about an event out of your control, experiencing a fender-bender, taking a pop test, going on a first date or making an important presentation at your job.

The physical feelings you’re experiencing in your gut are the direct result of your brain releasing chemicals traveling through the bloodstream or the major nerve pathways. Those messages could be painful (no second date) or positive (you aced the presentation) depending on how your individual gut-brain axis reacts to the outcome.

Some health experts believe the dysfunction of the gut-brain axis may explain several health problems, ranging from fatigue and brain fog to something as simple as toenail fungus.

One of the best and simplest ways to maintain a healthy, balanced gut-brain axis—taking a multi-species probiotic—is at the heart of a recent University of Michigan study about the connection between stress and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) on mice.

Researchers discovered mice produced chemicals called inflammasomes to maintain good gut health. However, when stressed, a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) produced by mice blocked the benefits of those inflammasomes, while changing the composition of their guts, leading to intestinal inflammation. The good news: Mice pretreated with probiotics experienced reduced intestinal inflammation, by reversing the inhibition of inflammasomes.

So, how do these positive results affect folks dealing with IBS? Although researchers say that stress doesn’t cause IBS, it alters gut-brain interactions that lead to diarrhea, problems with appetite and chronic or severe gut pain.

“The effect of stress could be protected with probiotics which reverse the inflammation of the inflammasomes,” says John Kao, senior study author and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. “This study reveals an important mechanism for explaining why treating IBS patients with probiotics makes sense.”

The important takeaway from this study regarding probiotics: Your body is under constant attack externally (bad bacteria is lurking everywhere) and internally (too many things to do and not enough time to do them). Taking a probiotic is the safest, most effective way to maintain the balance that protects and preserves a healthy gut-brain axis.

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Taking a multi-species probiotic is healthier than a placebo

Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Despite the 10 reasons we cited in a recent blog post, you may still be questioning why you should take a probiotic for your good health.

Unfortunately, a recent study published in the medical journal BMC Gastroenterology that compared the benefits of a probiotic to a placebo (a substance that may look like a drug but contains no medication and is taken merely to reinforce a patient’s belief he or she will get well) may have you doubting the effectiveness.

For the record, British researchers conducted a double-blind trial that compared the benefits 179 irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) patients felt after taking a functional probiotic yogurt or a placebo (non-probiotic yogurt) twice daily.

After four weeks, there was very little difference in the amount of relief felt by patients taking a probiotic (57 percent) versus a placebo (53 percent). By weeks eight and 12, however, patients taking the placebo experienced greater benefits compared to those taking a probiotic.

However, probiotic users shouldn’t be alarmed. The product tested in the study, like many food supplements of its kind, contained just a single strain of beneficial bacteria. It’s difficult to determine just how much beneficial bacteria are contained in yogurt, especially since most contain dead microbiota.

Shortly after BMC Gastroenterology published its study, the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology released one of its own that found probiotics containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria reduced IBS symptoms in 68 percent of participants compared to just 37.5 percent of those given a placebo.

In fact, studies have shown beyond a doubt that probiotics containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria are more effective in treating a host of health problems in addition to IBS, including diarrhea, immune functioning and respiratory tract infections.

Taking a health-boosting probiotic like EndoMune Advanced, which contains at least 10 different varieties of bacteria, some 16 billion beneficial bacteria and prebiotics every day, can do wonders for your continued good health.

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How and when to take a probiotic

Children’s Health, Probiotics, Women’s Health / By @drHoberman

When Should You Take a Probiotic?

Probiotics are one of the few health supplements that actually work, and they provide many benefits for your overall health. Probiotics help maintain a strong immune system by increasing the number of good bacteria in your gut. In turn, a healthy immune system helps your body ward off disease, making probiotics beneficial for both your digestive system and overall health. That’s why doctors like myself recommend them worldwide.

While there are numerous benefits of probiotics, we first need to understand what they are and how they establish themselves into our gut.

To begin, note an important fact: many people don’t realize that probiotics are not man-made, although there are man-made probiotics which are used in probiotic supplements. In fact, we, as humans, have been taking probiotics for thousands of years!

Every civilization around the world struggled to preserve food before we created refrigeration and other modern methods of food preservation. Each of those civilizations discovered that fermenting food could make it last longer. For example, foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, and even fermented pickled vegetables contain probiotics. Simply put, if you alter your diet to consume large quantities of fermented foods – you probably wouldn’t need to take probiotic supplements at all.

Your Stomach is a Problem

Both natural probiotics and probiotic supplements contain live beneficial bacteria. However, before probiotics from either food or supplements can help you, the beneficial bacteria must live and thrive in your gut.

A certain number of bacteria live in your stomach, but the vast majority of probiotic bacteria live in the lower portions of our Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract; specifically, your large and small intestines. To reach their ideal final destinations, the probiotic bacteria have to pass through your stomach and survive the acids it creates to break down food.

Our stomachs produce acid to “digest” the food we eat so the nutrients contained in food can be absorbed by your intestines. Unfortunately, your stomach acid will kill most bacteria, both good and bad, so it’s critical that beneficial probiotic bacteria are protected as they pass through the stomach.

EndoMune Advanced Probiotics have a special capsule designed to resist stomach acid and deliver as much probiotic as possible to your lower GI tract.

Some people try to thwart the stomach acid problem by taking probiotics with a meal, and we do lean towards that idea, but only if it’s a light meal. We don’t suggest taking probiotics with heavy meals because heavy meals take longer to digest, and actually might subject any beneficial probiotic bacteria to stomach acid for a longer period of time. In other words, heavier meals take longer to digest, trapping any probiotic bacteria in an acid bath for a longer period, making them more vulnerable.

The answer to the question of how to take a probiotic is actually another question – when is the best TIME to take a probiotic?

The Best Time to Take a Probiotic

When you take a probiotic will vary depending on your age and health. Another important factor to consider is why you originally began taking probiotics. For example, if you suffer from diarrhea or bloating, you gain the most benefit from probiotics by taking supplements at every meal.

If you have trouble staying asleep, the best time to take beneficial bacteria is right before bed. Did you know there is a proven connection between your gut and your liver? That means people with liver issues tend to have more insomnia than those with healthy livers.

Nevertheless, for most of us, the ideal time to take probiotics is 30 minutes before breakfast. Arguably, breakfast is the one meal we eat every day, at the same time, which makes it an ideal time to take your probiotic since you can easily fit it into your routine. Since breakfast often includes a fatty food like milk, muffins, or eggs and bacon, the probiotics better survive your stomach acid and find the lower portions of your gastrointestinal tract, where they do their best work. That’s why breakfast is an excellent choice.

If you’re not a fan of breakfast, you should consider your personal circadian rhythm to help determine what is the best time for you to take probiotics. We discussed previously why breakfast-eaters may benefit more by taking probiotics in the morning, but taking probiotics at night may be just as effective for night owls. In fact, research suggests that the bacteria in our gut directly affects our circadian rhythm. You can read more about probiotics and your circadian clock in a previous blog here: https://endomune.com/your-circadian-clock-and-gut-health-are-linked

Despite any personal nuance to when your absolute best time to take a probiotic, there are some general guidelines below you can use as a starting point to gain the most benefits from your probiotics.

For Healthy Adults

Take a multi-strain probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic consistently on an empty stomach at least a half-hour before eating your first meal of the day. This allows most of the beneficial bacteria to survive when stomach acid levels are lower as they travel to your gut.

For Healthy Kids

From infants to toddlers up to age 3, I recommend giving these small children a probiotic in a powdered form like EndoMune Jr. Advanced Probiotic Powder. Sprinkle one half-teaspoon of this powder on soft foods, in a formula, or in a non-carbonated liquid.

For children from ages 3-8, taking a probiotic in a tablet form designed specifically for this age group should be an easy way to ensure they have happy, healthy guts too. EndoMune Jr. Advanced Chewable Probiotic is a perfect way to deliver beneficial probiotics to your children in this age group.

Taking a Probiotic When You’re Sick

Taking a probiotic when you are sick is one of the best things you can do to give your immune system a boost, especially when your doctor prescribes an antibiotic. If you’re taking an antibiotic you’ve taken repeatedly in the past, you’ll gain even more benefits from probiotics.

Antibiotics can wipe out the good bacteria in your gut, allowing the less desired bacteria to hang around. In worst case examples, bad bacteria can proliferate, and perhaps even thrive resulting in serious health problems like grave Clostridium difficule (C. diff) superbug infections that can be deadly.

When you’re taking an antibiotic, it’s important to give your probiotic at least a two-hour head start to give those beneficial bacteria the best chance to reach and protect your gut.

Talk to your doctor first!

Before you begin taking a probiotic, be sure to talk to your doctor about any health concerns you may have. Consulting your physician is critical if you are taking certain drugs, like an immunosuppressants or antifungals. Knowing how and when to take a probiotic can dramatically affect how well they work.

If you’ve tried probiotics before and were less than impressed with your results, try taking them again and stay consistent with some of the tips mentioned above. You want to ensure you are not losing some or most of the probiotic and prebiotics benefits before they had a chance to reach your GI tract. That’s essentially the only way to really see if they will improve both your gut and overall health.

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Beneficial Microbes

Nature Reviews

American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy

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Probiotics can improve hypertension

Digestive Health, Disease, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Study after study shows that probiotics help treat gastrointestinal issues including IBS, diarrhea, gas and constipation. However, the benefits aren’t confined to digestive health.

Recent studies are also proving that probiotics can improve hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure. Primarily caused by environmental factors such as salt intake, minimal exercise, weight gain and high cholesterol due to bad diet, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.

The International Journal of Molecular Science published a review on various studies conducted on how probiotics improved hypertension, particularly the effects on cholesterol and diabetes. Among their conclusions, researchers proved that probiotics could reduce the amount of cholesterol, thus decreasing the chance of high blood pressure. Additionally, probiotics provide a safe alternative treatment to drugs or hormone therapy, with milder or no known side effects.

Probiotics not only treat digestion problems, but they also help lower your risk for hypertension. Add a daily probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic to your diet to improve your chances for a healthier life.

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10 Reasons Everyone Should Take a Probiotic

Digestive Health, Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

With 100 trillion bacteria and many different species of microflora floating around in our intestinal tract, a balance of good and bad bacteria is necessary to maintain the normal functioning of our immune system and intestines, as well as to promote optimal health.

Considering the recent attention being paid to probiotics—many positive medical studies have been reported in the mainstream media—more people are asking why they need to take a probiotic to protect and improve their overall health.

Here are 10 reasons to take a probiotic for your good health:

1. Your body is under constant attack externally (from exposure to bad bacteria) and internally (our go-go lifestyles hinder our eating habits). Taking a good probiotic, ideally with multiple strains of good bacteria, is the safest, easiest and most effective way to maintain a healthy balance of good bacteria in your body.

2. The human body cannot replenish the various strains of live and beneficial bacteria your body needs every day to stay healthy just by eating foods like yogurt, miso soup, pickles and sauerkraut that usually contain limited amounts of a single strain of bacteria. This is especially true if you’re using probiotics to treat a specific health problem.

3. Probiotics containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria are more effective in treating a range of health-based problems, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diarrhea, immune function and respiratory tract infections, according to a 2011 analysis of studies.

4. A growing number of studies are showing how taking a probiotic can be beneficial for patients when they are prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic. Antibiotics can often disrupt the balance of good and bad bacteria in patients’ bodies, causing unwelcome side effects like diarrhea.

5. Taking a good probiotic boosts patients’ natural defenses, protecting them from traveler’s diarrhea, too.

6. New moms can sidestep the prolonged crying and discomfort from their babies suffering infantile colic by giving them a high-quality probiotic.

7. Recent studies have been linked with taking a high-quality probiotic to beneficial effects on the gut-brain axis that may positively affect your emotions and help you beat depression.

8. The healthy bacteria contained in a good probiotic help maintain normal intestinal motility and lessen the problems of constipation.

9. Reducing your risks of colon cancer is as simple as taking a good probiotic.

10. Probiotics are a newfound weapon that may assist in lowering elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels that contribute to cardiovascular disease.

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Probiotics May Battle IBS-Induced Stress

Mental Health, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

You may recall a recent study I posted about the possibilities of an anxiety-free future by taking probiotics. Those possibilities are looking a little more like probabilities, based on the results of a University of Michigan study on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Although stressful emotions aren’t the primary cause of IBS, they can alter brain-gut interactions that trigger the intestinal inflammation that spurs diarrhea, belly pains (severe or chronic) or a loss of appetite.

In tests on mice, University of Michigan scientists discovered that stress may suppress an important element called an inflammasome, which is needed to maintain healthy gut microbes. The good news: Probiotics reversed the suppressive effect in these animals.

“This study reveals an important mechanism for explaining why IBS patients with probiotics makes sense,” said senior study author, gastroenterologist and associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan John Y. Kao, M.D.

During the course of the study, researchers found inhibiting inflammosomes changed gut composition, resulting in intestinal inflammation. However, pretreating some rats with probiotics reduced inflammation in animals with stress-induced, small bowel inflammation.

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