Healthy Microbiome Protocol From Jason Hawrelak, ND, PhD
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Supporting a Healthy Microbiome
The biggest myth about probiotics is that they’re all the same. It’s not true. Research conducted on one probiotic strain cannot be extrapolated to other strains. We now have randomized, controlled trials of probiotics showing efficacy for many different specific situations. And the research is still growing.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG is the poster child of the modern probiotic. It was the first strain that was developed with an extensive amount of testing and hundreds of clinical trials have been done on this strain.
But did you know that dietary prebiotics are unequaled in their capacity to optimize the gut ecosystem? Compared to taking probiotics that only temporarily colonize the gut and minimally impact the ecosystem, prebiotics have a much more profound and sustained effect on the ecosystem. Prebiotics nurture indigenous species very selectively and effectively.
Probiotics are still very important and relevant, especially as we learn more about the actions of specific strains. Different strains of probiotics have different mechanisms and effects. Some can speed up transit time to support healthy elimination. Some produce compounds that support healthy blood pressure. Some probiotics support healthy inflammatory pathways or immune function.
Some probiotics support the integrity of the gut lining or the functionality of brush-border enzymes. Some support healthy blood-sugar levels, and others influence satiety.
When you understand the broad list of actions that different probiotic strains can have, you can see how we get the best outcomes when we’re really targeted with the approach. Once we understand the mechanism of any given strain, we can extrapolate ways to use that strain in practice.
In many ways, probiotic research is still in its infancy, but it’s a rapidly growing field of research. Dr. Hawrelak is at the forefront for making this research accessible for clinicians with the Probiotic Advisor database. You can learn more at probioticadvisor.com
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Jason Hawrelak, ND, PhD, is a probiotic researcher, educator, and clinician. He has over 20 years of clinical experience in busy natural medicine apothecaries and clinics, focusing on modification of the gastrointestinal microbiota and the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions. He’s also taught at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels for 18 years. Dr. Hawrelak writes extensively about probiotics, and his research articles have been cited more than 1,300 times. His lectures and publications have changed the way thousands of practitioners in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. manage gastrointestinal conditions and modify the microbiome. Dr Hawrelak is the creator and Head of Research at ProbioticAdvisor.com, a comprehensive, searchable evidence-based database for information on probiotics.
