How to Make Probiotics More Affordable?
This is one of the most surprising things I've learned in the past few months. You can actually ferment probiotics at home to make them more affordable and get a much higher number of beneficial bacteria.
One of my best experiences with probiotics was with a very cheap multi-strain product. But I understand that digestive issues can be very frustrating, so people also want to try more expensive ones.
And prices for premium products are on the high side.
Probiotics: Why Quantity Matters
If there are trillions of microorganisms in the gut, can a 1-billion-CFU probiotic capsule really make a difference? That’s something I’ve been wondering about for the past few months.
What if probiotics don't work as well as we hope simply because the bacterial counts are too low?
Of course, the quality of the probiotic matters too. Some strains are simply more resilient, more effective and survive the journey through the digestive tract better than others.
For example, I always assumed that only high-potency probiotics with at least 10 billion bacteria were worth the money.
A few days ago, I found a study that tested 3 different doses of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in people with IBS. To my surprise, the most effective dose was 100 million bacteria, not 10 billion.
What Is the Most Effective Probiotic for IBS?
I finally got my answer from Dr. William Davis’s book Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight.
He ferments specific strains to achieve higher bacterial counts, because capsules contain too little to make a real impact.
Especially if you have gut issues such as SIBO, which is a severe imbalance.
It seems my question was valid, at least to some extent.
Best Value Probiotics: Getting More for Your Money
So if you want to optimize your spending on probiotics, these 2 steps can help:
- find a strain that has been studied for your condition
- ferment it at a specific temperature for a specific amount of time
How to Make a High-Potency Probiotic at Home?
How to save money on expensive SIBO probiotics?
Dr. William Davis says that 3 specific probiotic strains are beneficial if you are trying to address SIBO:
- L. reuteri strains: DSM 17938 and ATCC PTA 6475
Temperature and time: 38 °C (100.4 °F) for 36 hours.
- L. gasseri BNR17
Temperature and time: 43 °C (109.4 °F) for 36 hours.
- Bacillus subtilis DE111® or HU58™ (this one replaced Bacillus coagulans GBI-30,6086 mentioned in the book, because the results weren’t consistent enough).
Temperature and time: 33 °C (91.4 °F) for 60 hours.
And guess what? Bacillus subtilis HU58™ and L. gasseri BNR17 are ridiculously expensive. Fermenting them may be the only way to reach the bacterial counts needed to get the benefits you're looking for and justify the cost.
If you don’t want to buy Bacillus subtilis as a supplement, you might want to check kombucha in your grocery store. Some brands may contain B. subtilis, and you can use these drinks as a starter instead of a pill.
The Bottom Line
The idea of fermenting foods is not new to me, but the fact that you can ferment specific probiotics for specific health conditions is still surprising.
The challenge is finding the right temperature and time.
Dr. William Davis covers probiotics for SIBO and a few other specific bacteria in his book Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight.
READ MORE
How to Boost Your Mood with Homemade Yoghurt?
4 Sources
Dr. William Davis Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight. Yellow Kite, 2022. Kindle Edition
