Best Probiotics for SIBO (Hydrogen and Methane)

Expert Insights

SIBO is a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth so logically adding more bacteria (probiotics) seems like a very bad idea.

And it is in many cases.

Also, as you can imagine if your small intestine doesn’t move the way it’s supposed to, bacteria sit there for longer and the probiotics you take just add fuel to the fire.

But some doctors, including Dr. William Davis, say probiotics do help with SIBO. You just need to choose the right strains.

Some of them produce natural antibiotics called bacteriocins, which makes them a good choice for bacterial overgrowth.

What are the best probiotics for SIBO according to Dr. William Davis?

Lactobacillus reuteri

Specifically the DSM 17938 and ATCC PTA 6475 strains.

Tablets and capsules don’t usually contain the necessary amount of CFU to make an actual impact so he recommends making “SIBO yoghurt” to achieve higher counts.

Some people have a great success with this yoghurt, some experience side effects.

Soil-based probiotics for SIBO

Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis

People who are hesitant to use Lactobacillus strains because they’ve experienced side effects might be interested in these, because they’re a different type (spore-based probiotics).

In his book Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health and Lose Weight Dr William Davis mentions Bacillus coagulans GBI-30,6086 but in his most recent videos he says he replaced it with Bacillus subtilis HU58™ (or DE-111) because it’s just easier to achieve consistent bacteria counts with B. subtilis rather than B. coagulans.

Lactobacillus gasseri

BNR17 is the strain Dr William Davis recommends. It’s actually quite expensive so fermenting this one makes even more sense, because you get those higher bacteria counts and you can save some money too.

Probiotics for Hydrogen and Methane SIBO

So these are the 4 specific strains Dr. William Davis finds especially helpful in SIBO cases.

They seem to work for both hydrogen and methane SIBO.

Here's what he says in his book Super Gut:

I also introduce the idea of using a yogurt I call Super Gut SIBO Yogurt to push back the populations of hydrogen- and methane-producing microbes in SIBO. As you now know, conventional probiotics, because they are haphazardly assembled, have only modest effects on depopulating the gut of SIBO species. But what if we carefully choose probiotic species and strains for their specific characteristics that could provide advantages against SIBO, such as an ability to colonize the upper GI tract where SIBO occurs and to produce bacteriocins effective against SIBO species? The three-species Super Gut yogurt thereby has a better chance of reorganizing the microbiome and reducing or eliminating SIBO.

My Final Thoughts on Probiotics for SIBO

What I personally find interesting about his approach is the fact that he’s the first person I know of who talks about higher bacteria counts. It seems logical that if our gut contains trillions of microorganisms, what is a 1 billion CFU probiotic capsule going to do? And if you were to buy more bottles, it’s just too expensive so fermenting foods with these specific strains seems like a very clever idea.