They Promote Heart Health
Heart health is integral to everyones existence, poor heart health is caused by various factors, including conditions you are born with. But the most common cause is when cholesterol build ups in your arteries, blocking the passage of blood.
There are some ways you could keep your heart healthy like exercising regularly and your diet also plays a large part in the overall health of our heart. Studies have also shown that probiotics might come in handy in keeping your heart healthy.
How does it help your heart? Well, since cholesterol plaques are dangerous to your heart, probiotics help by breaking down bile juice and hence preventing its reabsorption into the blood stream as cholesterol. Colony forming units also help in reducing blood pressure.
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New Guidelines Support Probiotics For C Difficile Prevention But Few Other Uses
The American Gastroenterological Association recommended that probiotics be used to treat patients with Clostridioides difficile infection, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome only in the context of a clinical trial.
The American Gastroenterological Association recently issued clinical practice guidelines on the role of probiotics in the management of gastrointestinal disorders.
The guidelines were based on an accompanying technical review that reviewed the evidence to answer eight specific questions. The guideline writers focused on conditions where probiotics are commonly considered and outcomes that are important to patients, such as induction and maintenance of disease, treatment of disease, and prevention of sepsis and all-cause mortality. The guidelines and review were published by Gastroenterology on June 9.
The guidelines found little evidence to support probiotics in a number of the conditions assessed and recommended their use for treatment only in the context of a clinical trial for patients with Clostridioides difficile infection, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome.
What Are Possible Side Effects Of Probiotics
Probiotics are usually safe for people who are generally healthy. Possible side effects of probiotics may include gas and bloating.
For people with a weak immune system, S. boulardii may cause severe side effects, such as a life-threatening fungal infection. It is important to always talk with your health care professional before taking probiotics.
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Heres What A Probiotic And Supplement Support Protocol Might Look Like During Or After Antibiotic Treatment For C Diff:
This list represents a sample of educational guidelines & not a substitute for professional advice.
When it comes to a probiotic protocol, here is what a sample day may look like:
1.) After Breakfast: 2 capsules Megasporebiotic2.) After Lunch: 2 capsules RestorFlora + 1 capsule Theralac 3.) After Dinner: 2 capsules Hu58
If taking Biocidin, or Berberine, follow health professional or manufacturers guidelines
The length of supplemental support can last 1-6 months.
For long-term probiotic guidelines and how to transition to a wellness schedule, I recommend checking out: Dr. Rineharts Probiotic Blueprint
If I had to choose ONE formula to skip the complexity while getting great baseline support Id choose Megasporebiotic.
Treatment Options For C Diff
C. diff is a debilitating disease that causes chronic diarrhea. It is usually caused by antibiotic use so the first step is, if possible, to stop taking the antibiotic that triggered the C diff infection.
After C diff is positively diagnosed, your doctor may start by prescribing an antibiotic.
Antibiotics may sound counterintuitive for the treatment of C diff. How is something that is caused by antibiotics treated with more antibiotics?
The answer is that the antibiotics used for a C diff infection are different from the ones that cause it. Broad-spectrum antibiotics such as clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, and cephalosporins usually trigger a C diff infection. Antibiotics used for C diff are usually metronidazole or vancomycin and are more specific for C diff.
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Probiotic Strains For C Diff
Though there are a lot of probiotic supplements in the market, not all of them are effective in treating CDI. There are thousands of probiotic strains and each of them has different functions. Taking a probiotic supplement with strains geared for oral disorders might not work against gut illnesses.
So how do you know which probiotic supplement to take?
According to studies, the following probiotic strains show promising effects against C. Diff infection:
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Current Medical Approach To C Diff Infection
Medicine will turn to standard antibiotics to treat a C. diff infection. But as antibiotics can be an initial trigger of C. diff overgrowth in the first place, this approach is sometimes necessary, but not without its limitations.
C. diff is also a natural inhabitant of the gut. It becomes opportunistic and dangerous when all of the other microbes are thrown off .
If you keep turning to antibiotics, fail to address long-term dietary changes, or struggle to maintain healthy probiotics, sooner or later, antibiotic resistance will develop and the future risks can start to compound especially as you age.
The use of fecal transplants is a new cutting edge option for ridding C. diff.
Yes, the procedure transplants poop from a healthy donor to an infected person. The feces from a healthy donor will contain a diverse balance of healthy microbes. When the feces are transplanted to the infected person, microbe diversity & balance is restored. Research has shown the transplant can restore healthy flora and crowd out opportunistic pathogens like C. diff.
Its increasingly covered by the media and due to the profit potential of a fecal transplant youre seeing a lot of motivated parties to sing its praises.
Transplants are discussed not only for gut infections but for weight loss, diabetes, and other conditions that can relate to the gut and microbiome.
I dont like it. I dont like the false sense of security it creates in our minds.
Probiotics.
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Not All Probiotics Are Created Equal
Taking the right kind of probiotic is essential. Probiotics must be both potent and stable to handle your stomach. They should also contain the correct species of bacteria or yeast that will live in and positively effect your microbiome in order to assist your healing. Delivering the right strain of probiotic with enough potency has always been a problem in the probiotic industry.
Taking probiotics is an easy and effective way to support your microbiome and immune system and to speed infection recovery.
Probiotics are especially important if you have a history of recurring C. diff. infections. If you have taken antibiotic drugs recently, then probiotics can help reduce the negative side effects and help repair damage done by these drugs. Even if you dont have an infection, daily probiotic use can help your body maintain a balance of healthy microbes, which improves your overall health and helps prevent future infections.
Our favorite probiotics have qualities that are uncommon in the probiotic industry:
- They survive the acidic stomach at 100%
- They actually will thrive and make a home in the human gut
- They arent killed by antibiotics like most probiotics
- They inhibit the growth of C. diff. bacteria and other pathogens
- They enhance the immune system and produce antioxidants and vitamins in the gut
- They can survive with or without oxygen
- They are widely used in Europe and are safe and effective
References
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Probiotics Taken During Or After Antibiotics
Probiotics can help reduce C. diff growth by these mechanisms:
- Competition with pathogens for growth
- Direct interference with C. diff metabolism
- Immune stimulation and modulation
- General maintenance of intestinal health .
Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillusacidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bacillusprobiotics can be taken during or after antibiotic treatment to help maintain gut flora, reduce the potential severity of infection, and actively keep C. diff levels at bay.
Spore probiotics, specifically in the formulation Megasporebiotic, have also been studied in a mouse model to help support leaky gut, inflammation, and the immune response to recurrent C diff infection .
The use of the probiotic yeast, Saccharomyces boulardii, has been well-regarded in the literature . Clinical trials demonstrate S. boulardii may prevent C. diff recurrence, but its use may be limited to a first-time infection .
When using S. boulardii, I use RestorFlora as my preferred source as it combines the probiotic yeast with spore probiotics. I use S. boulardii by Klaire Labs when supplementing the strain individually.
Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus reduce inflammation and the severity of C. diff-related diarrhea .
TruFlora by Master Supplements is a good source of Lactobacilli combined with a small amount of spore probiotic to support the health of the small intestine as well as cycled for periodic intestinal cleansing.
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Choosing The Best Probiotic For C Diff
Spore-forming, true probiotics are my favorite choice, and they dont have the limitations listed above. True probiotics can live both in oxygen or without it, making storage and shipping easy. True probiotics are part of every persons unique microbiome and they survive the stomach at 100% potency3.
One of my favorites is the spore-forming Bacillus species, and they also combat C. difficile and other gut pathogens.
References
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Data Abstraction And Risk Of Bias Assessment
Three of the authors carried out the literature searches, review of study quality and data extraction. From each study we extracted the number of patients randomly assigned to the intervention and placebo groups, the numbers of patients who had antibiotic-associated diarrhea in each group, the number who were tested for C. difficile and the number who were classified as having C. difficile-associated diarrhea. In addition, we extracted descriptive information and patient demographic characteristics and covariates . We assessed the risk of major biases described by the Cochrane Collaboration as “no,” “yes” or “unclear” . We then classified studies as A , B or C . Detailed scoring is given in Appendix 1.
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Can You Prevent C Diff With Probiotics
Probiotics can be found in dietary supplements or yogurts and are becoming increasingly available as capsules sold in health food stores and supermarkets. As functional food or good bacteria, probiotics have been suggested as a means of both preventing and treating C. difficile -associated diarrhea .
Probiotic Agents In Cdi
Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate dosage, confer a health benefit to the host. Russian scientist and Nobel Laureate Eli Metchnikoff made the original observations of the positive role played by certain bacteria. He suggested that it may be possible to modify the gut flora, replace harmful microbes with useful microbes, and thereby improve health. A wide variety of probiotics have been tested and used to prevent or treat CDI.19,20 The best studied probiotic agents in CDI are Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus GG and other lactobacilli, and probiotic mixtures.
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Rationale And Evidence For Probiotic Use In Cdi
Since the microbiome plays an important role in CDI pathogenesis, there has been significant interest in using microbiome-targeted therapies, notably probiotics, to prevent CDI. Probiotics are live microorganisms intended to confer a health benefit.3 But are probiotics the magic bullet? And anyone whos walked through a grocery or drug store knows there are many to choose from. The most common probiotics belong to the bacterial genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii. Probiotic health benefits are proposed to be mediated through competition for resources with pathogens, improvement of gastrointestinal barrier function, and immune system modulation.4 Several meta-analyses have evaluated the effectiveness of probiotics for CDI primary and secondary prevention. A 2017 meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials found that probiotics significantly reduced incident CDI risk compared to placebo or no treatment.5 In post-hoc analyses, probiotics were only effective in populations with a high baseline CDI risk. Another meta-analysis stratified trials by primary and secondary prevention and reported that four strains significantly reduced primary CDI: S. boulardii, L. casei, a mixture of L. acidophilus and B. bifidum, and a mixture of L. acidophilus, L. casei and L. rhamnosus. Interestingly, probiotics did not significantly improve secondary prevention of CDI.6
Quantification Analysis Of Bile Acids By Liquid Chromatography
Feces, collected on day 9 of the intervention, were stored at 70°C, and the bile acids were detected by the Beijing Bio-Tech Pack Technology Company Ltd. . Briefly, feces were suspended in 1 mL methanol and extracted by vortexing for 60 min, following centrifugation at 13,200 r/min for 10 min. A total of 500 L of supernatant was centrifuged and volatilized by freeze-drying under vacuum, followed by the addition of 150 L methanol to the Eppendorf tube to dissolve the sediment. The supernatant was detected on a liquid chromatograph and mass spectrometer . The concentration of the bile acids was calculated according to the peak areas of the bile acids and external standards.
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Beginners Guide To Beating Pseudomembranous Colitis : Explained In Plain English
Home » Digestive Disorders » Beginners Guide To Beating Pseudomembranous Colitis : Explained in Plain English
Pseudomembranous colitis refers to inflammation in the gut that is associated with an overgrowth of C. diff bacteria.
This condition can cause very uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms that are very serious if not managed properly.
Unfortunately, pseudomembranous colitis is becoming more common with people often experiencing it more than once.
This article explores what to eat and drink during a C. diff infection, and what diet can help prevent pseudomembranous colitis from recurring.
Contents
The Origins Of True Probiotics
True probiotics are abundant in the soil and in nature.
But today most people have become separated from the land. Most foods are pasteurized, cooked or sterilized, effectively killing any probiotics they may have contained. Few people consume raw, unprocessed, naturally fermented probiotic foods. And people are constantly exposed to toxic environmental chemicals, stress and drugs that strain the microbiome and weaken the immune system.
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Traits Of True Probiotics
A true probiotic
- Can survive in the bottle and through the acidic stomach to reach the intestines at 100% potency1.
- Is a normal resident of the human microbiome and will bind and colonize in every person.
- Has a long history of human use.
- Can tolerate oxygen as well as non-oxygen environments.
- Has a track record of safety and effectiveness.
Heres What A Support Protocol Might Look Like During Or After Antibiotic Treatment For C Diff:
This list represents a sample of educational guidelines & not a substitute for professional advice.
When it comes to a probiotic protocol, here is what a sample day may look like:
1.) After Breakfast: 2 capsules Megasporebiotic2.) After Lunch: 2 capsules RestorFlora + 1 capsule Theralac3.) After Dinner: 2 capsules Hu58
If taking Biocidin, or Berberine, follow health professional or manufacturers guidelines
The length of supplemental support can last 1-6 months.
For long-term probiotic guidelines and how to transition to a wellness schedule, I recommend checking out: Dr. Rineharts Probiotic Blueprint
If I had to choose ONE formula to skip the complexity while getting great baseline support Id choose Megasporebiotic.
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Is It Time To Get A New Probiotic For C Diff
Youre looking for a new probiotic for c diff. What do you think? Its difficult to predict future price changes. If there are no signs of production slowing, it can be worth buying now to enjoy your investment sooner. But if output is declining and prices are predicted to rise, you might want to wait until the buzz has died down before making a choice.
The Root Cause Of C Difficile
C. difficile infections result from an overgrowth of C. diff. bacteria inside your intestines. The most common trigger for a C. diff. infection is antibiotic drugs. When you take antibiotics, they indiscriminately kill the protective bacteria in your gut. Once these friendly gut bacteria are killed, they can no longer compete against the C. diff. bacteria, which results in a C. diff. overgrowth and infection.
The answer for C. diff. lies in reversing how the problem was created in the first place. A big piece of the puzzle is to restore a healthy microbial balance in the gut. However, all probiotics are not created equal, especially for C. difficile infection support.
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What Happens After Im Finished With An Antibiotic
Long-term its about healing the gut lining and re-establishing microbial diversity in the gut to protect you for the long haul. When the gut is leaky and damaged you absorb wastes & toxins into the blood that create inflammation throughout the entire body.
If you want to keep poop out of your bloodstreamheal leaky gut! Ive collected the 7 Core Strategies to Heal the Gut Lining and Manage Leaky Gut
Using the products above in combination can make a strong difference in outcomes. All have good support behind them for yeast overgrowth too. If you have gut imbalance its a strong guess that yeast is involved as well at least two-thirds of the time.
Prebiotics are important to maintain gut health long-term once youve cleared pathogens and have slowly added back probiotic diversity. I use MegaPrebiotic by Microbiome Labs, PhytoFlora Microbiome Support, FloraStart Prebiotic Fiber, and FloraSpectrum Prebiotic Powder, I usually integrate them in that order and then rotate them long-term.
I generally work in the blends in that order as tolerated as each will target a different set of flora. The goal is diversity so I rotate these on monthly basis & mix it up during the month too.
Start low and work up with prebiotic fibers.
The Berberine Complex is geared slightly better to actively cleanse the GI system.
Check out Dr. Rineharts Probiotic Blueprint on how to introduce and evolve your probiotic protocol independent of concerns with antibiotics and C. diff.
