I must be some crazy nut writing this from my parents’ basement. Everyone else is on board the probiotics and fermented food train. What the hell am I talking about? Well, read this blog, and better yet, watch my presentation. If you´ve been trying various probiotics for years, and still struggle with your health, pay attention! I might even save your life.
Years ago, when I was in my first few years as director of medical education for a microbiome firm, I kept finding ugly data points for Lactobacillus. I was surprised, as that´s not what I was expecting. As a true scientist, I followed the data, without bias. Then, in June 2020, 60 minutes had an episode on probiotics, and it wasn’t very flattering. Finally! Someone else is seeing the same thing I was seeing.
Then, in August, two months later, a comprehensive technical review came out, and once again the probiotic world took a shot to the chin. However, when I mentioned to people in my industry that I was NOT a fan of the genus Lactobacillus, I was met with anger at times. You see, I was challenging people´s belief systems Whether they were based on evidence is another matter. But facts are stubborn things, and I have a ton of them for you in my presentation.
This whole probiotic obsession got started with Ilya Mechnikov in The Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. It was thought that their healthy aging and supposed longevity were due to their consumption of fermented dairy products. However, modern scientists attribute their longevity to other common factors seen in blue zones around the world.
In fact, When I compile all of the data points from my healthy aging meta-analysis, which includes 9 centenarian studies and 13 frailty studies, we get an excellent idea of the microbiome in the healthy aged. Lactobacillus plays no role, in either direction. I also have a presentation dedicated to this topic entitled, “Healthy Aging and the Microbiome.”
I also provide mountains of data on ulcerative colitis, diabetes, dementia, Parkinson´s disease, IBS and more. In all of these cases, in the human fecal microbiome clinical literature, when a significant difference is found between healthy controls and those with these conditions, almost all of the time, the abundance of Lactobacillus is significantly HIGHER in those who are ill, which is to say, significantly LOWER in the healthy controls. So, if you have IBS, or any other condition, and the odds are that you have more Lactobacillus than healthy people, what in the world makes you think that even more Lactobacillus will do you any good? It likely won´t. In fact, it´s highly likely that it will make thigs worse.
Species from Lactobacillus can do two things, in general, to cause problems. One is that they can alter the gut environment, in those with dysbiosis, to one that is even worse. You see, Lactobacillus is one of many different bacteria in the microbiome which produce lactate, but one of a few which produce it as a primary end-product. And it’s this lactate which helps drive down the pH. But Lactobacillus does so robustly, and with high acid tolerance. Under normal healthy conditions, there are lactate consuming bacteria, some of which are highly beneficial, which keep lactate levels in check at a very low threshold. However, if this threshold is crossed, in the case of dysbiosis, then a spiral of lactate production decreases pH, which disables the consumption of lactate from the good bacteria, and can switch to feed other lactate consumers who are bad bacteria, such as E coli, C diff, Campylobacter and Salmonella. This condition is referred to as lactate accumulation, and is seen especially with surgical removal of portions of the small and large intestine, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
The other thing, is that they can be an active bad actor. In the dysbiotic environment, Lactobacillus can be a weak opportunistic pathogen, but it can also on rare occassions be deadly. Lactobacillus resides with two other classic opportunistic pathogens, Enterococcus and Streptococcus, within the order Lactobacillales. Because of this similarity in genetic content, it can behave pathogenically. And in many ways, it behaves like an opportunistic pathogen. It thrives outside of the pH goldilocks zone (also a presentation), its presence increases with PPI and antibiotic use (two more presentations), it can adhere to cells, and it´s tolerant to oxygen. In fact, it´s what´s called a facultative anaerobe, which means it can survive with and without oxygen. You know what other bacteria are facultative anaerobes? Enterococcus – a very bad acting genus which I often highlight. Haemophilus influenzae – as in meningitis, pneumonia and sinusitis. Streptococcus – as in strep throat, but can be a nasty infection just about anywhere in the body. Staphylococcus – as in those nasty hospital staph infections – like MRSA. Salmonella. E coli. Yersinia pestis – as in the plague, and others. I´m not saying Lactobacillus is the plague. I´m saying it has genetic material in common with these bad actors.
Lactobacillus infections can go on to be the cause of bacteremia (think blood infection), endocarditis, liver and dental abscesses, and other infections. I provide all the references in my presentations, with graphs, charts etc. In fact, I´ve even put their hotlinks below. Check them out.
So then Mr. microbiome expert, why isn´t everyone getting sick from Lactobacillus? As the title states, the concerns are for those who are dysbiotic, and the serious concerns are generally for those who are more ill. For the healthy person, if you want to consume a Lactobacillus containing probiotic, yogurt or fermented food, then fine. Will it do you some good? Maybe. Maybe not. However, if you have a dysbiotic gut, these species will most likely not help, and in fact likely make things worse . If the data clearly shows that most of the time, those who are ill have more Lactobacillus than those who are healthy, why add more?
If you´ve stumbled across my information online, including this blog, then youré trying to better your health in one way or another. And good for you. In our world as it is, we all now have to be our own health advocates. With a broken government, food and medical system, you need to take charge of your healthcare. So, educate yourself, as best you can. This is why I’ve launched my platform. If you have a condition or disease that you think would be well served by addressing your microbiome, you can visit the Protocols tab on my website, where you can find a science-based protocol which may dramatically improve your quality of life.
