Since it’s the microRNA within the dead microbial bodies that provides the temporary immune boost, I think of the bacteria in regular probiotics and fermented food as fertilizer for my gut garden.Ĭonsuming Just Thrive probiotic, however, is like putting alive, intelligent, gut-cleaning gardeners in my microbiome. When the live bacteria see their dead cousins floating by, if they perceive something of benefit, there is a genetic exchange from the dead to the live. When we consume conventional probiotics and fermented foods, our live, permanent microbial residents are clinging to the gut wall and constantly examining the contents of the river of nutrients moving past over the six to eight hours it takes food to travel through the entire digestive tract.ĭead or alive, all bacteria contain microRNA within their body, each strain having its own unique RNA qualities and specific benefits. (See: Live and heat-killed rhamnosus GG ) Surprisingly, when these microbiologists heat-killed the lactobacillus rhamnosus it was just as effective dead at stopping diarrhea as it was alive. To answer that question, in 2009 NIH researchers tested the non-spore strain, lactobacillus rhamnosus, commonly found in many popular brands because it can be effective against diarrhea. If conventional strains do not, for the most part, colonize the gut microbiome, how can they help us feel better? Because we have all seen, or experienced, getting some benefit from these strains under some conditions. Then how do regular probiotics provide any benefit at all? All three agreed that the bacteria in both fermented foods and commercial lacto/bifido probiotics were virtually entirely killed by bile and stomach acids. That clarification reinforced what I had heard in May of 2016 at a panel discussion at UCLA consisting of two research microbiologists and Sandor Katz, author of the extremely popular DIY fermentation book, Wild Fermentation. Technically the information in those studies is probably accurate, just not transferable to commercially produced strains available for purchase. This has to do with both expense and how mass production affects bacteria over time. He said that the strains used in clinical studies are generally much stronger than those found in commercial probiotics. Kiran Krishnan, the research microbiologist behind Just Thrive, clarified that question for me. People have questioned the idea that conventional probiotic strains are killed, saying they have read studies and articles that contradict that assertion. Unfortunately, we have so sterilized our environment, inside and out, including all our food growing and processing systems, that the best guarantee for receiving maintenance levels of these critically important strains is currently through supplementation, not plant food.īut don’t non-spore strains survive and colonize? Then, just before being excreted, they re-sporulate and, again, in a “perfect” world, would be returned to the soil to start the cycle all over.īecause we are designed by nature to be consuming these strains every day, that is how peak benefit is received - consistent, preferably daily, consumption. Slowly moving from the top down, these bacteria kill pathogens and rebalance the microbial population all along the entire length of the tract. In a “perfect” world, the earth would always be microbially loaded with these gut commensal spores which, alive but inactive within their shell, would then catch a ride from the soil onto a growing plant to be eaten by an animal… like you and me.Īrriving safely in their home, the intestines, these gut commensal strains immediately remove their shell and spend the next three to four weeks as our gut-cleaners. Furthermore, all four strains in Just Thrive have been well studied by microbiologists and categorized as “human gut commensal,” meaning they are beneficial to our gut microbiome. In contrast, the spore bacillus strains used in Just Thrive evolved over eons to naturally have a shell, the purpose of which is to help the bacteria survive in the extremes of the outer environment. What all regular probiotics have in common is that their bacteria lack any kind of protective spore shell, making them very delicate and easily killed. The way you tell the difference between these two kinds of bacteria is that only spore strains begin with the word "Bacillus." If a strain listed on a label begins with anything else, it is one of the non-spore, more fragile bacteria. When I say "regular" or “conventional,” it is short-hand for what has been being sold at the retail level for decades, 95+% of which are multi-strain, lactobacillus and/or bifidobacterium based formulas. By Joanie Blaxter, National Sales Manager for Just Thrive What exactly is the difference between a spore probiotic and a regular probiotic?
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