2508: Benefits of Probiotics

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[00:00:51] Visit other Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily, Episode 25-08 and I'm Dr. Neal Malik.

[00:00:56] Hey there, happy Friday and welcome to another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily where

[00:01:01] I answer your health questions related to fitness, diet and nutrition, and more. You send

[00:01:06] in the questions and I answer them for you. Now if you do send in a question and you're

[00:01:11] in the US, we'll mail you a copy of our hardcover workbook. If you're outside of the US,

[00:01:17] we'll email you a PDF version. Now what's the easiest way to send in a question? Just

[00:01:23] email it to health at oldpodcast.com. Alright and with that, let's hear today's

[00:01:29] question as we optimize your life.

[00:01:35] Today's question came via email. Ken from the Philippines writes,

[00:01:39] Hi Dr. Neal, I have a question about probiotics. I know that you've answered so many questions

[00:01:45] about this topic but I'm particularly curious about your cult. Are all the health benefits

[00:01:50] that they claim in their ads true? If yes, one is the best time to consume this drink

[00:01:56] and what's the recommended daily quantity for adults? Thank you for taking the time to

[00:02:00] answer my question. I listen to all of the podcasts from the Optimal Living Daily

[00:02:04] family when I drive to work or when I go out for a jog and I find so much value in

[00:02:09] all of your content. Thank you so much for taking the time to send

[00:02:13] in your question, Ken from the Philippines and thank you so much for your kind words.

[00:02:18] I'm so glad you enjoy listening to all of the shows in our network and find them so

[00:02:22] helpful. Regarding your question about the benefits of the probiotic drink you cult,

[00:02:28] I did a deep dive and searched for studies that tried to answer this very question and

[00:02:33] sadly came up empty, well mostly empty. A lot of the studies I found were looking at

[00:02:39] how drinking your cult may help prevent dental cavities of all things. I'm guessing that's

[00:02:45] not what you meant when you were asking about potential health benefits instead you probably

[00:02:50] were asking about any potential health benefits to maybe the intestines. The microbiome found

[00:02:56] within the intestines and how this may all contribute to our overall health. So let's

[00:03:02] start with the intestines and the microbiome. Within our intestines we have good and not so

[00:03:07] good bacteria. The good bacteria help us digest food and keep our immune systems healthy

[00:03:13] among other things. And so this is what we want to focus on here. Now how many of these

[00:03:18] good bacteria do we actually have in our intestines at any given time? Well a lot. It's estimated

[00:03:25] that each person has anywhere from 10 to 100 trillion of these good bacteria in our intestines

[00:03:32] and the number and types of these good bacteria are different for each person too. That's because

[00:03:37] there are lots of different strains or species of these good bacteria within each body

[00:03:42] but in different quantities. It's believed they're at least 400 different species of these good

[00:03:48] bacteria within each person. This combination of species of good bacteria is often simply referred

[00:03:55] to as our gut microbiome. And again it's these different quantities and species of bacteria that make

[00:04:01] everyone's microbiome unique to them. If that's the microbiome then what are probiotics?

[00:04:08] Probiotics are live good bacteria that support the health of our microbiome. This means they help

[00:04:15] increase the diversity and total number of good bacteria in the intestines. And yes foods like yogurt,

[00:04:22] kefir and jacult contain lots of probiotics. So these types of supplements basically provide extra

[00:04:30] good bacteria to the body. The trouble is we don't really know how helpful these foods or

[00:04:36] supplements are when it comes to actually increasing the number of good bacteria in the gut.

[00:04:41] This is because these foods have to first pass through the stomach before they get to the intestine

[00:04:46] and the stomach is a pretty harsh environment for most things. So it's possible that many of those

[00:04:51] good bacteria that we consume in yogurt, kefir, jacult or some other probiotic supplement

[00:04:58] are destroyed before they get to the intestines where they can thrive. So as always I have to

[00:05:03] rely on actual studies to find out whether probiotics survive the trip to the intestines.

[00:05:09] Based on the data I have seen some probiotics do survive that trip and actually help reduce

[00:05:15] the symptoms of certain conditions. For example there are some that may help reduce the symptoms

[00:05:21] of irritable bowel syndrome or IBS and the symptoms of IBS would be things like diarrhea and cramping.

[00:05:29] Now these results don't necessarily include jacult only because there aren't enough studies

[00:05:34] performed with jacult specifically looking at these specific conditions but some studies have found

[00:05:40] that probiotics like vis-biome brand high potency probiotic can help with certain forms of IBS

[00:05:48] but when it comes to something else like preventing or treating a cold or the flu supplementing

[00:05:54] with probiotics doesn't seem to help. But let's say you and your doctor decide supplementing

[00:05:59] with a probiotic is right for you then the next step is to make sure that the one you buy

[00:06:04] is a good one as I mentioned many times before the supplement industry is kind of like the wild

[00:06:10] west right now. Supplement manufacturers are creating products that aren't being tested by

[00:06:15] independent third parties so they're putting fillers in their products and marketing them as

[00:06:19] supplements. It's very possible that you could go out and purchase what you think is a probiotic

[00:06:25] supplement but if we were to actually analyze the product to see what it's truly made of

[00:06:30] we find maybe it contains no bacteria at all or if the product does contain good bacteria there

[00:06:37] aren't enough of them to make a difference. Most of the studies suggest that getting doses of

[00:06:42] one billion live probiotic cultures may be what's required to see any beneficial effects. Also

[00:06:50] some supplements require refrigeration whereas others may be stable at room temperature

[00:06:55] it really depends on the brand and the probiotic strains so when it comes to how many probiotics

[00:07:01] supplements should you take each day or how much you cult to drink it's really about reading

[00:07:06] the packaging to find out how best to consume it and store it. Now who might want to stay away from

[00:07:13] probiotic supplements? According to the National Institutes of Health most healthy adults can consume

[00:07:18] probiotic supplements but this is assuming again that the product is made of quality ingredients

[00:07:24] is free of impurities and stored properly. The most commonly reported side effect when supplementing

[00:07:30] with probiotics is gas but for some serious side effects have been reported. Those that are

[00:07:36] seriously ill like those suffering from cancer or receiving chemotherapy or radiation

[00:07:42] or those with weakened immune systems anyone who's recently undergone surgery

[00:07:46] and infants these are all folks that may want to avoid supplementing with probiotics

[00:07:52] and since many of the food sources of probiotics are found in milk based products and this goes

[00:07:56] for supplements too if you have a milk allergy or are lactose intolerant be careful and as always

[00:08:03] again if you decide to begin supplementing with anything really not just probiotics speak to your

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[00:09:53] thank you again so much for taking the time to send in your question can and for listening to

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