How to Choose & Use the Best Probiotic for Your Situation

New research shows that the healthy human body can have up to 3000 different species of bacteria that outnumber the cells of your body by 10 times! These bacteria (probiotics) protect you from invading bacteria, such as Lyme spirochetes, C. diff, Strep, Staph, E. coli, and every other microbe that may invade your body. Not only do these friendly bacteria kill invading microbes, but they serve vital roles in maintaining health on every single level of the body.

The absence of these probiotic bacteria allows invading bacteria to cause diseases. The absence also causes the breakdown of the body’s biochemical engine, leading to dysfunction, degeneration, and is involved in the development of nearly every disease that can be named.

To get the full picture of the huge potential that has medical science so excited, read my previous articles on the topic:

Preparing Your Body

Two to four weeks prior to sending in your bacterial army, you must create the optimum growing environment for your bacterial army to go to war!???? Read this hyperlinked article on how to prepare your body before introducing therapeutic probiotics.

Before sending in your troops of friendly bacteria, discontinue all of the natural products and supplements that you were taking to help the body dislodge and eliminate (kill) as many of the invading microbes in your body. Many of those natural antibacterial products may also harm some of the good guys. Many people are afraid to stop taking their prescription or natural antibiotics, but this fear may be unfounded when considering that probiotic bacteria have been studied since the 1970’s and some types have been shown to be able to produce over 100,000 different types of very potent antibiotic compounds that can be selectively produced by the probiotic bacteria to kill and control invading microbes!

Hopefully you read my previous articles that laid out the grand strategic plan. Simply taking a lot of probiotics will provide short-term gains, but that strategy is doomed to fail in the long term if you don’t prepare your body ahead of time to ensure their successful colonization in your body.

I have listed many of the most researched probiotic bacteria later in this article so that you and your doctor can select the most beneficial ones for your situation. Taking more types and quantities than you need is not better.

There are many genetic variations of the same species of probiotic bacteria. So one company that sells Lactobacillus acidophilus may have a genetic strain that is different than another company’s Lactobacillus acidophilus. One brand may work much better for your unique body than another. The best system is to choose the species of bacteria most likely to address your health concern; read the labels of different brands of probiotics. Finish the bottle and if you got less effect than you desired then stay with the same species but switch brands.

You will find that everyone has a favorite brand of probiotic which worked wonders for them. The same brand may not do anything for your body, because it is not the genetic variation your particular body needs. Of course always use the best brand you can afford.

If you have a specific health concern you need addressed I would recommend you initially avoid taking probiotic supplements with many types of beneficial bacteria, and instead take a brand that has just the types of bacteria you feel you need. It is much better to take just what you need at first instead of throwing some of everything at your body, so that you don’t have every type attempting to colonize at the same time.

As mentioned in previous articles I have written on this topic, the doctors at the Hansa Center for Optimum Health are working on ways to test and identify the exact species and ratio of each type of bacteria our patients need and then compound those bacteria into a formula that is tailor made to fit their unique bodies and situation.

Our doctors are also working on ways to create frequency-enhanced (tagged) probiotics to further increase their targeted performance and successful colonization in your body. The friendly bacteria that colonize your body have often been passed on through the generations of your family and passed on to you during the transit through vaginal birthing and breastfeeding. These bacteria carry genetic tags that identify them as part of your body, every bit as much as the actual cells that make up your body. The probiotic bacteria you take, either in supplements or fermented foods, may be the same species, but they do not carry your family genetic tag, so they most often cannot colonize and become part of your collective bacterial family and are instead eliminated in the bowel movements. This is why our work to give a frequency tag of sorts to the probiotic bacteria we use on our patients is so important. Time will tell just how effective it is.

We keep individual species of probiotic bacteria at the clinic so that we can compound the specific types your body and situation needs, then give them the frequencies needed to hopefully help them “blend in” with your body’s friendly bacterial colonies. Remember the point is to get the bacteria to gain a foothold and to colonize permanently in your body, not just to have them kill invaders, heal tissues, and correct your biochemistry as they pass through your intestines and are eliminated in your bowel movements.

The form of probiotics I like the best, and possibly the most efficient way to take a wide range of probiotics, is in powdered or encapsulated powder form. These probiotic bacteria are freeze-dried, which puts the bacteria into suspended animation. They are essentially asleep and temperature stable, which means they do not need refrigeration, although keeping them in a cool, dark place is best. Overheating, leaving the bottle lid loose, and exposure to light will create problems.

To use powdered probiotics, add the serving to 8-10 ounces of room temperature purified spring water, which is non-chlorinated and has no fluoride, both of which will kill the probiotics, a good indication that you should never, ever drink chlorinated/fluorinated water. Distilled water is demineralized and therefore will be tough on the probiotics. Using an alkaline water filter system will help clean the water, get rid of any bad toxins and will keep the body a lot more hydrated.

If you are using the capsule form of probiotic then open the capsule and empty capsule into about 8-10 ounces of water and let sit for a few minutes for all them to reanimate or wake up. Most manufactures of probiotics have developed strains of bacteria that are pH stable, so they can survive the full range of pH environments found in the body, from the mouth to the anus.

Allow the water with the added probiotics to sit for a few minutes to give the bacteria time to “wake up” or re-animate before they have to get to work. Take the probiotic water two hours away from food. When there is food in the stomach, the pylorus, the valve-like muscle at the bottom of the stomach is closed and the stomach acid is high to breakdown the food. When the stomach is empty then the pylorus valve is open and the stomach acid should be at its lowest. By putting your probiotics in 8-10 ounces of water you increase the likelihood of washing them all the way through the stomach and into the small intestines where they can get to work.

Swish the probiotic water around your mouth and teeth before swallowing. Many of the bacteria help prevent dental cavities and fight periodontal disease. Dental cavities and periodontal disease can lead to many things including sore, bleeding gums and pain when eating. Should this occur, you will be left wondering how to find an emergency dentist whilst dealing with acute pain. Although you will need to see an emergency dentist, essentially the only way to treat it is by improving your oral hygiene. Even if you’re registered with a brilliant dental practice like this Dentist in Sacramento, it’s still better to avoid potential damage to your teeth and mouth by taking precautions like this. Indeed, probiotic bacteria are needed to colonize on every mucus membrane, from the mouth, nose, and sinuses, through the esophagus, lungs, and intestines.

Other forms of probiotics are pearls, liquids, and fermented food products. All of these are fine and my suggestion is to follow the manufacturer’s or your doctor’s recommendation as to when and how to take them.

Some species of probiotic bacteria are hardier and tend to colonize more easily in your body, and therefore are not needed in as high of numbers per serving as other less hardy species. Most of the various types of readily available probiotic bacteria species need to have at least 10-15 billion CFU’s (Colony Forming Units) per serving in order to be effective. A therapeutic dosage would be 20 Billion CFU’s per serving. I would advise avoiding any company’s probiotic that simply lists the amount of bacteria in milligrams, since you really do not know how many bacteria you are taking.

Soil-based bacteria are often hardier and therefore less per serving are needed. This would included Bacillus subtilis, and coagulans. For these, a serving of 500 million to possibly 1 billion is all that is needed and taking more is not recommended as all the various species of bacteria in your body need to be in the correct population ratio without unnecessary competition.

This can be done two to three times a day or as directed by your health care professional. Listen to your body and adjust serving and times per day to minimize any potential discomfort you may experience.

Supply your probiotics with the types of food they enjoy to ensure that they stay stronger than the bad guys. Feed them by eating organic food at mealtime and prebiotics, such as inulin or Jerusalem Artichoke. The word prebiotics is just a term for specific types of foods that feed bacteria. It is hugely important to feed your good bacteria, but do NOT use these foods, such as Inulin and Jerusalem artichoke until after you have completed the “Preparing Your Body for Probiotic Success Against Disease” section. The bad bacteria also love these foods.

Support not just your digestion but your good bacterial ability to also enjoy proper digestion by chewing all of your food completely before swallowing. The bacteria are microscopic, so when you swallow big chunks of food that are poorly chewed, it is like telling a person to eat a carrot the size of a skyscraper. The bad bacteria love big chunks of undigested food, since this food putrefies inside your gut and toxic sludge is what they love to eat! No matter what you are eating – meat, veggies, grains, or fruit, all of it should be the consistency of baby food before you swallow it. There are many important reasons for slowing down and chewing your food, but in this situation it is a highly important step to feed your bacterial army.

Gently Detoxify Your Intestines

Bad bacteria produce toxins that damage your body, such as cadaverine, spermine, and putrecine. You must detoxify the body through strategic use of fiber and toxin-binders. I developed a formula called NeuroAntitox, which many doctors around the world have had much success using to minimize bacterial die-off toxic symptoms, as well as helping the body eliminate the ammonia that often accumulates in the body with H. pylori infections and candida overgrowth. Read this excellent article on the benefits and types of fiber to use, written by Dr. Mercola. You can also read my previous articles on ways to gently detoxify your body during illness and health restoration.

One of the most successful ways of introducing probiotics into the body is through doing probiotic retention enemas. To do this enema, start by doing a Gold-roast coffee enema to clean out the feces and putrified matter from the colon as outlined in my previous article. Prepare the probiotic water as detailed above, only this time put the powder in 2-3 ounces of body temperature water. Using a bulb enema applicator, lay on your left side and squeeze the bulb, injecting the probiotic water into the rectum. The idea is to retain this inside of your colon allowing it to flow through to the entire length of the colon. Once inside your rectum, roll to the elbows and knees position for a minute and then lay on your right side, allowing it to go to that side of the colon. Keep this in your body. The water will be absorbed and the bacteria will go to work right where you need them. Since the small intestines cannot be reached with this method, you should also take the probiotics orally as detailed above.

To see the different probiotic species and what research has indicated they can do for you, click here to continue reading!