How much is too much or too little? How do you know if it’s the wrong strain? And how on earth can you get it right..? You need support and guidance so you don’t overdo it with probiotics or other health focused efforts, to transform your wellbeing in a way that makes a real difference.
You know the saying, “If a little does a little bit of good… then a lot must do a whole lot of good…” But when it comes to probiotics, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
We’ve talked before about the microbiome, that ginormous collection of microbes that live in your gut and have so much influence on your health.
Some of those bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes maintain a thriving ecosystem of sorts that assists your body in many of its functions. They also provide a powerful immune system to protect you from infections, cancer, and viruses from the common cold to HIV.
Thankfully, the majority of those microbes help us function and protect us from invaders. The rest of them are always on the attack and being destroyed or eaten by the “good” bacteria.
Until something happens that jars that system out of balance. Like if you overdo it with probiotics…
Like, for instance:
- An infection treated by antibiotics, where the good bacteria are wiped out along with the bad.
- Stomach upset that results in vomiting or diarrhea, where massive evacuation of the intestine leaves behind a weakened balance of beneficial and destructive microbes.
- An injury that drives you to take a heavy load of ibuprofen, and your stomach lining becomes irritated, causing pain and bleeding.
In each of these examples, ingesting probiotics can help to restore balance in your gut, and relieve symptoms.
But, there are so many probiotic products! How do you know what to take and what to avoid? How do you know you won’t cause more harm than good?
The fact is, it’s hard to know. You really need to do your own deep dive into current research on the subject. It may be tempting to grab a bottle off the grocery store shelf, but if you do, you may not know now… or ever.
Since you hear all around you how probiotics make you healthy, it’s natural that so many people want to overload their systems with “good bacteria” without respecting the balance within the microbiome that keeps everything working. But, can you overdo probiotics?
Balance is The Secret to Nature’s Success
Let’s compare it to a desire to visit the Amazon rainforest. If you want to visit the jungle, it might be tempting to remove everything you consider unpleasant from that environment so you could enjoy a fun hike while you’re on vacation.
Let’s say we did have a way of removing all the mosquitos, spiders, and other pesky insects, as well as lions, and snakes, and gila monsters. That does make it sound like strolling through the jungle would be so much safer for us…
But… We know, don’t we, that there’s a balance in the eco system, and every creature is somewhere on the food chain? So if we removed insects… then birds and reptiles and anteaters might starve. And that would starve the larger predators and soon… well, the whole system would likely collapse.
We know we can’t do that. Balance is the key all through nature, and it’s when our body systems are balanced that we experience well-being.
Microbes in our body must be balanced too.
The same is true with the microbes in your gut. We must respect and support the balance there.
So when you get sick you may need to build up the good microbes a bit. But if you flood your system – like overdo it with probiotics – then you’re likely to overwhelm the balance. Then, other systems can be thrown out of balance, too.
As we’ve stressed before, your microbiome is your gut-brain axis. So what goes on in your microbiome shows up in your emotions and vice versa.
There are even specific bacteria that contribute to a happier outlook, reduce anxiety, and increase wellbeing. Some of the most helpful are Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Bifidobacterium lactis (B. animalis), and Bifidobacterium longum.
Fermented foods, like kombucha, kimchi, kefir, plain yogurt and sauerkraut introduce live bacterial cultures. These are probiotic foods–they introduce varied bacterial strains that are so important to your health.
But sometimes, if you can’t or don’t eat these, you might choose to buy a probiotic capsule. (Yep … we’ve all been guilty.) Sometimes it’s easier, faster, or you just want the extra assurance of varied bacterial cultures. But you can overdo it with probiotics…so be careful.
When you choose a probiotic, verify the specific bacterial strains we mentioned above are included. This combination can help stabilize your outlook.
And, of course, your dosing should be in moderation. Researchers confirm that a good probiotic should have up to 10 billion colony forming units (CFU). They confirm you should take that amount daily, and it should have least 5 different strains per bottle. The more variety the better.
The reason you take a probiotic is to strengthen your beneficial bacteria so they’re not overwhelmed by the destructive ones, right?
At the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm your system, even with those beneficial bacteria. There are so many questions we don’t yet have answers for… like can you overdo probiotics?
Or… what happens if the yin-yang balance of tension between the two is removed? Do some of the beneficial bacteria switch sides? Do they become destructive… mimicking symptoms they have always before helped to eradicate?
In which case… maybe too much of a good thing is a bad thing?
Balance of Power in Your Microbiome is the Ticket
But here’s where balance comes in. If your probiotic provides a great deal more than 10 billion CFU per day, you need to get your doctor’s advice. There are some products that provide 40 billion…and others even 400 billion CFUs.
And while these may be helpful in someone who has been seriously ill and may need a strong probiotic for a few days, it’s not that hard to introduce too much probiotic into your system.
You CAN Overdo It By Over-Dosing Probiotics
When this happens, side effects can emerge. It may be as simple as stomach upset and diarrhea, which can make you feel pretty sick. Or, it can be as complex as mimicking severe psychiatric symptoms like depression or anxiety or panic attacks.
With that said, we need to learn from each other, and from research, and take caution when we hear of bad experiences others have had from accidentally mismanaging their probiotics.
While research has not caught up with the widespread use of probiotics yet — we don’t have hard and fast guidelines about exactly what, how strong, how much, how often and for what, exactly — we’re still learning more all the time. And there are cases of those who accidentally take a misstep – you know, who overdo it with probiotics – and pay the price.
Here’s one example…something that could happen to anyone:
Denise is a 64-year-old woman in excellent health who’s always been robust and energetic.
She’s cared for pets and farm animals all her life and loves working with and riding horses. There’s nothing she’s afraid of… nothing she won’t try. In a word, she’s resilient.
Years earlier, Denise had suffered a knee injury that occasionally flared up. She had been taking large doses of ibuprofen that eventually irritated her stomach and led to bloating, shortness of breath, cramping, and bloody diarrhea.
She was frustrated with the misery and prolonged diarrhea, so she sought the advice of her nutritionist. He suggested a potent probiotic that provided 400 billion CFUs a day until the bottle was empty. So she followed his advice and took the whole bottle. At that point she was feeling wonderful… physically and emotionally.
Happily, Denise was wrapped in a sense of burgeoning wellbeing and decided if a little did a little bit of good… Howevever, her nutritionist suggested if she was to continue taking the probiotics, she should cut her dose in half.
She went to the store to buy another bottle and continued to take the original dosage without reducing them. What could it actually hurt? (Stay tuned…she’s about to find out..!)
Four days later, she awoke in the middle of the night feeling anxious. Her heart was racing, her left arm numb, and she was lightheaded. Eventually, she was able to go back to sleep, but the feelings of anxiety kept recurring.
Three more days passed. She was laying in her bed at night when gripping fear overwhelmed her. Her thoughts were racing out of control, she was lightheaded…she thought of dying, of losing her mind, felt detached and terrified.
Eventually, the terrible fear subsided, the racing thoughts slowed down, and she realized she was going to be ok.
But she was shaken.
Honestly, Denise had never experienced anything like this before in her life. She’d always been resilient and solid…both feet firmly planted… through even the most severe crises in her life. What had happened to her?
Even though the symptoms had passed again, they recurred often and unpredictably over the next few days. She researched frantically to find answers for what was happening to her.
The only thing that was different in her life was the probiotics, which had quickly healed her stomach problems. Could it have caused these new symptoms? Did she overdo it with the probiotics?
Then she found an article in Mental Health Daily about the side effects and adverse reactions to probiotics that people have reported. And there she found her answer.
It pointed out that if you take more than 20 billion CFUs (she was taking 400 billion CFUs) per day, you can experience side effects. And anxiety was listed as one of them. Who knew? She stopped the probiotics immediately. And hoped it would help.
A Trip To the Emergency Department…A Heart Attack?
Then, the next day, she woke from a sound sleep and believed she was having a heart attack. With her heart beating out of her chest, thoughts of dying in her bed overwhelmed her. She drove herself to the ED to get help. (Always call 911..!)
She told the emergency department personnel that the only thing in her life that had changed was that she was taking probiotics. The nurse sloughed it off and said, “Probiotics never hurt anyone.”
Her EKG was clear, so they gave her medication to help her regain calm, then sent her home.
To Denise’s great relief, only 3 days after she stopped taking the probiotic supplement, the anxiety subsided… and she felt like herself again.
She wanted to throw a party to celebrate!
Professional Nutritionist Baffled
The fact that the ED nurse had no idea probiotics could do this was a comfort to Denise. She felt embarrassed to realize she could overdo it with probiotics… but apparently even medical professionals weren’t aware there could be side effects with probiotics.
Later, she told her nutritionist what happened, and with alarm, he asked her why she didn’t stop when he told her to???
She sheepishly explained her misinformed perspective.
Then he said, “To tell you the truth, in my 25 years in nutrition, I’ve never before heard of side effects with probiotics!”
Denise told him, “Well, it sure happened to me!”
She’s been doing great ever since the whole incident and is elated to be herself again. But she learned a hard lesson. “Harmless” probiotics deserve respect for their power and impact on the human system.
From now on, she’ll ALWAYS follow directions when it comes to over-the-counter remedies. And especially probiotics!
The good news is that if probiotics can cause this much change in someone who’s healthy, they can make all the more significant changes in someone who’s not.
Along with improving health in your stomach and intestines, as well as reducing inflammation and infection throughout your body, they can also relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety.
But be aware, they’re not to be taken lightly. Experts say that since each individual is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all for probiotic supplementation.
Remember: In general terms, seek up to 10 billion CFUs daily. Start gently. Watch for out-of-the-ordinary symptoms. A specific strain may not be right for you, or a specific combination. Take several days or a couple weeks to test the effects of partial doses, raising the dose a little each day as long as you have no negative symptoms. Include your doctor in the process, or join us in Touchpoints180™ and we’ll help you monitor your response.
This story isn’t to scare you away from using a preparation that can help you become stronger and more resilient. But rather, to alert you to possible risks if you use probiotics without supervision or awareness of potential side effects.
This is just one more piece to the puzzle of health and wellbeing.
And speaking of wellbeing, how is yours?
When You’re Doing All You Know to Do, And It Doesn’t Help… What Then?
Probiotics strengthen your microbiome, and eating a healthy diet that includes fermented dishes like kimchee, sauerkraut, and yogurt, can certainly help improve your overall health and wellbeing. When these are paired with frequent exercise and a good night’s sleep, they can all help you build overall wellbeing and reduce stress.
But, if you’re doing everything right – the best you know how – and you still struggle with conditions like major depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, OCD, or addiction… or maybe you’re plagued by declining cognition, forgetfulness, or brain fog… you may benefit from taking the steps to repair your metabolism, restore the fuel your brain needs, and rebuild your vitality from the inside out.
And what if you’ve gained unwanted weight or been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and other inflammatory maladies?
It turns out that decades of research have revealed that most of what happens in your brain and many of the conditions that plague your body, are rooted in an energy crisis in your brain – and your body, too.
Do you find you have trouble finishing sentences, searching for words, or forgetting? Maybe the mental sharpness that has always served you has become duller, and to be honest, it’s alarming. This is not aging, though everyone says it is, and that it happens to everyone. But the fact it, this is your brain crying for help. And we know what it needs.
At Touchpoints180™ we specialize in untangling brain/body dysfunction, rebuilding a metabolism that’s supercharged with superior clean fuel, switching off neuroinflammation to restore your memory, mental clarity, and focus, and ramping up your micronutrients to get your brain and body humming like a precision machine.
We employ in-depth lab work, empowering education, nutrient packed meals, and a truckload of insights to enhance your vitality, circadian rhythm, and ramp up your cognition.
If you’ve reached the point where you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, and want to restore your energy, mental clarity, and longevity, Schedule a Discovery Call NOW.
Give yourself the chance to really live.
To the emergence of your best self,
Lori Calabrese, M.D.
