Probiotics are supposed to be good for health… so why all the unpleasant symptoms?
Gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, or strange embarrassing sounds emanating from the depths of your bowels?! If probiotics are supposed to fix these, why did they suddenly make things worse?!
Not everyone experiences adverse symptoms when consuming probiotics, but if you do, don’t worry. I’m here to provide explanations and solutions! Let’s talk about what is only rarely addressed when it comes to the adverse symptoms we could get from incorporating probiotics.
Yes, probiotics are good for you.
When people talk about probiotics, they are usually referring to probiotics either in supplement form (encapsulated cultures of bacteria), or in edible form (fermented foods like yoghurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, miso…).
Probiotics are many species of what we deem to be beneficial bacteria that we consume mostly from our diet or via supplementation. These probiotics, or cultures of bacterial species, will inoculate our internal and external microbiomes. A microbiome is a community consisting of commensal (friendly) and pathogenic (not friendly) microbiota made up of yeasts, fungi, viruses, bacteria and other species or pathogens. These days, people commonly refer to the microbiome as the trillions of species of microbiota that live primarily in the large intestine (or colon).
The reason why everyone talks about taking probiotics is because of their benefits. They’re essential for the functioning and production of hormones, neurotransmitters, the breakdown of nutrients, levels of inflammation, and the functioning of your immune system. Because of this microbiome, your gut is comprised of over 70% of your immune system!
Yes, there can be too much of a good thing.
Maybe you have tried probiotics because they were recommended after a course of antibiotics. Or maybe you’ve heard about supplementing with probiotics because you experience troublesome gastrointestinal symptoms. But then you take them, and those unpleasant symptoms get worse – what?!
Let’s explore a few reasons why you could be experiencing adverse effects to probiotic supplementation…
You are taking too high of a CFU dose.
CFU, or colony-forming units, indicates the number of live bacteria that are encapsulated at the time of manufacturing (or ideally, until the expiry date of the product). If you have delicate digestive health, you may not respond well to a 100 billion CFU capsule that would over-flood your microbiome will those great little bacterias.
This can cause a flushing effect (or what scientists call the Herxheimer Reaction) because when you flood your existing microbiome with a ton of new bacteria, you may eliminate plenty of undesirable species AND most of the colonies that are an overload in numbers for your gut at that particular time. You may want to start slow by choosing, say, a 50 million or 1 billion CFU and gradually working up to a higher dose over several weeks or months. It’s okay to start small and go slow!
You are already living with dysbiosis or a gastrointestinal disease.
Dysbiosis, or an imbalance of microflora have been studied in gastrointestinal diseases such as colon polyps, Celiac’s Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. We also find dysbiosis in conditions such as SIBO and SIFO (small intestinal bacterio or fungal overgrowth), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
If you have been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal condition or disease, it is important to work with a practitioner to identify the best protocol for your microbiome. Keep in mind that a protocol might not actually involve probiotics at all, because probiotic supplementation may further aggravate dysbiosis and even possibly cause an overstimulation of the immune system.
You are sensitive to the strains or ingredients.
Many probiotics either contain fillers or were grown in mediums that contained ingredients that you might be sensitive or allergic to. Common examples are: potato, soy, dairy, gluten, rice, yeast, corn. Some of these ingredients can be used a fillers, preservatives or as growing mediums for the bacterial cultures.
In the case of an allergy or autoimmune condition, you may want to avoid supplements that use such ingredients (whichever ones you are sensitive to), as they have the potential to exacerbate immune and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Beware of the histamine.
This caution is more pertinent to fermented foods than to probiotic supplements, but we consume both with the same intention of contributing to a healthy microbiome. Many foods contain various levels of histamines, a nitrogenous compound that is activated in local immune responses when ingested. Histamine naturally occurs in the body, and we have enzymes that break it down.
Some foods, such as fermented and aged foods, contain higher levels of histamines that can contribute to those unpleasant tummy symptoms that you experience. Also, some probiotics may also contribute to a histamine load depending on how they were made.
Were yeasts used to inoculate the probiotics? Was the product fermented? You may want to avoid these products if you suspect a sensitivity to histamines.
A healthy environment means a healthy community.
Wanna hear something cool? Your body hosts multiple very unique microbiomes, such as via your digestive tract and on the skin. The particularity of your microbiome is like your unique fingerprint or DNA – no one has the exact same copy.
The trillions of microorganisms residing in the gut influence each other, influence their environment, and are further influenced by their environment. Your microbiome is always changing – and this means that you hold a lot of power in shaping your microbiota community!
What you eat and drink influences your microbiome. The supplements (like probiotics) and medications that you consume, too. Exercise, sleep, lifestyle choices and plenty of other factors also influence the microbiome, but I’ll get to all of that another day…
So when considering the use of probiotics, evaluate everything else you are consuming, especially your in diet. We want to look at the big picture when troubleshooting what may be causing your uncomfortable tummy symptoms, and probiotics might not always be the problem (or the solution).
What is your experience?
Have you tried probiotics? Have you had any adverse effects? What did you discover that was the solution for you?
Place a comment, and let me know what has and hasn’t worked for you!
