Probiotics are a complex area. Most probiotics work by producing natural antibiotics[bacteriocins] that inhibits other bacteria. In some cases, the probiotics are more greedy than other bacteria and thus starve other bacteria. Some antibiotics produced.

• Streptomyces hygroscopicus produces geldanamycin.
• Streptomyces griseus produces streptomycin.
• Streptomyces aureofaciens produces tetracycline.
• Streptomyces erythreus produces erythromycin
• Streptomyces orientalis produces vancomycin
• Lactobacillus reuteri produces reuterin
• Lactobacillus plantarum produces plantaricin
• Lactobacillus acidophilus produces acidocin
• Lactobacillus helveticus produces helveticin

Not every strain of a species produces these antibiotics. For more information.

As with all antibiotics, continued use encourages antibiotic resistance by some of the targeted bacteria, hence the best course is to rotate probiotics. Most probiotic products do not indicate whether they are antibiotics producers; this leads to the suggestion of rotating between brands. There is an exception, if there are noticeable changes after a few days then it is likely safe to assume that it produces some natural antibiotics that are effective against other bacteria you have. In this case, brand rotation for this species is likely not needed.

Sources:

• Trademarked/copyrighted/patented species, ideally ones with some research. All of them are listed on this page with links to the research. Ideally, just the one researched for your conditon.
• Single species with (almost) no fillers. There are precisely three sources that I use:
  • Custom Probiotics :they list all of their strains — many are researched on the above list. No other ingredients just the bacteria.
  • Maple Life Science™: No strains yet, but shipments usually have manufactured date within 4 weeks of arrival (i.e. FRESH). Contains FOS (only)
  • Bulk Probiotics: US based Newbie — but has some species not available at the other two sites. No other ingredients just the bacteria. Specifically, Lactobacillus Jensenii that has great potential for Crohn’s disease.
• NOTE: none of these sell though retail outlets. This keeps their costs down by selling direct and their product fresh.

Dosages:

My general advice based on the literature is at least 50 Billion CFU per day with 100+ Billion CFU ( 10¹⁰ ) being preferred.

Method

Every bacteria in your gut comes from some where. It should be obvious that they all passed through the mouth. Other bad bacteria take up residence in the mouth or nasal cavity and continuously refresh the gut bacteria. My general advice is to dissolve in warm water, swish it around the mouth and then swallow. This should be 1-2 hours away from eating (which will cause stomach acid to increase).

From Custom Probiotics

Hard Capsules?

Hard capsules gives a rational for marketers to persuade you to buy their products. They are ineffective against bad bacteria in the oral and nasal cavity that will repopulate the gut.