You may have considered a probiotic supplement to help with your digestive discomforts like gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. You may have taken an antibiotic and looking for ways to boost your beneficial bacteria to recover. You may be resorting to your gut in the hopes of it helping with other conditions you have like acne, eczema, weight loss, autoimmune conditions, inflammation or others. 

There’s no doubt that beneficial bacteria help maintain a healthy gut function. But do probiotic supplements actually work? And which one is the best probiotic supplement to use? 

Our gut microbiota, casually known as gut flora, contains tens of trillions of microorganisms, including at least 1,000 different species of known bacteria with more than 3 million genes (150 times more than human genes). Microbiota can, in total, weigh up to 4-4.5 lbs. They help us extract nutrients from foods, synthesize certain vitamins, reduce inflammation, maintain gut barrier integrity (in other words prevent leaky gut), and fight off inflammatory and pathogenic microbes. 

Maintaining a rich (high in number/count) and diverse microbiome is integral to gut and overall health. 

In this post, I’m sharing the best probiotic supplement that has been a game changer for my clients over the years. But there’s one little caveat. 

Probiotics alone are will not solve all your health problem or result in 100% symptom relief. They are a piece of a bigger puzzle. When it comes to gut health, we have to consider many things like stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, gallbladder health and bile flow, motility, and others. There may be an overgrowth or certain pathogens (bacteria, yeast, parasite, mold), dysbiosis, or SIBO. You may have developed food sensitivities or leaky gut.  These underlying issues are often part of your digestive struggles. While probiotics are part of the solution, they are not ALL of the solution. 

Click HERE To learn more about my comprehensive program, where I include this probiotic for my clients (and sometimes others based on their test findings), in addition to a completely personalized food plan and other supplements to support all aspects of digestive health. 

Best Probiotic Supplement

The Best Probiotic Strains

The probiotic strains I recommend are bacillus species, also known as spore-based probiotics. They are superior for many reasons.

1. Spore-based probiotics survive stomach acidity and make it to the large intestine alive.

Bacillus spores have a 2-phase life cycle. In the spore-phase, they are dormant and protected from harsh environments, allowing them to survive digestion and the stomach’s acidity. When they reach the large intestine, the environment there is favorable and optimal for their growth. The spores become active and start working by reconditioning and colonizing the gut and promoting diversity and growth of the strains that your body needs and the ones you’re born with (known as commensal bacteria).

On the other hand, traditional probiotics made with lactobacillus and bifidobacterium species are fragile and do not survive digestion and stomach acidity. It’s estimated that 99% of these bacteria arrive to the large intestine dead.

2. Spore-based probiotics are more likely to colonize the gut.

Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium are “new” to your gut flora. Introducing them just “reseeds” the gut, which is like adding new seeds to your abandoned garden. You can keep bringing more seeds but a beautiful garden is when the seeds stick around and flourish into beautiful healthy plants. Supporting your gut with bacillus specifies on the other hand “reconditions” the gut. This is like hiring a gardener who’s going to water the plants you have, remove the weeds, and maintain the garden. All humans have binding sites for bacillus species, and because they are not foreign but more in line of the species you already have, they will colonize instead of passing through.

In addition, spores can indirectly increase the richness and diversity of your gut microbiome, enhancing the proliferation of probiotic organisms like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are hard to effectively supplement due to their fragility.     

3. Spore-based probiotics help eradicate pathogens and dysbiosis

Spore-based bacteria are capable of producing antimicrobial substances that help support the proper balance of commensal (good) to pathogenic microorganisms. Bacillus subtilis, one of the strains in this product, alone produces 12 different antimicrobial substances. They also inhibit the proliferation of highly competitive unwanted organisms using a mechanism termed “outcrowding.” When the gut surface is completely taken up by probiotic organisms, the unwanted organisms stand less chance of colonizing. I find this product helpful as part of any anti-microbial protocol I recommend.    

4. Spore-based probiotics are low maintenance.

Who doesn’t like convenience? They don’t need to be refrigerated, which means you can travel with them or take them to work or any place you need. They can be taken at the same time with antibiotics, because the spore-phase protects the bacteria and makes them resilient. They won’t interfere with SIBO, H Pylori, or yeast/candida protocols, and in fact, they will boost the therapy because they will do their part in attacking the pathogens. They don’t produce histamine (certain lactobacillus bacteria do), making them agreeable for people with histamine intolerance.

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The Best Probiotic Supplement Product

I personally use and recommend for my patients Megasporebiotics from Microbiome Labs. Here’s why this is my go-to product:

• The research supports the superiority of spore-based probiotics
• Fewer side effects with using it with hundreds of patients
• Great results with my patients, along with a comprehensive program
• This specific product is DNA-verified by a 3rd party
• The company is dedicated to research and education. The doctor and microbiologist who developed this product have great knowledge about the gut and have spent years educating health providers. Their clinical team is ready to answer any questions. 
• Two of the strains in this product, Bacillus indicus and bacillus licheniformis, produce B vitamins and antioxidants like carotenoids, astaxanthin, beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, and quinols which can help reduce inflammation in the gut and maintain antioxidant levels. 

How to Buy Megasporebiotic?

This product is not available on retail shelves and only sold through healthcare providers. It’s potent and the company prefer that it’s used under the supervision of a healthcare provider. I’m making it available here because I strongly believe in it. I know people will try a probiotic as a first step, and if you’re going to pick something, it’s better to choose the best probiotic that will give you the best results. 

To get it through my online supplement store:

1. Go to my online supplement store page
2. Create an account
3. Search for “Megasporebiotic”

To get it from the company directly:

1. Go to this page: https://microbiomelabs.com/
2. Click on “Register an account” then choose “patient”
3. Complete your information. Under Patient Direct Code, use “Nour”
4. Search for “Megasporebiotic”

How to Take Megasporebiotic?

This is a potent probiotic so it’s important to start slowly.

1. Week 1: take 1 capsule with food, every other day
2. Week 2: advance to 1 capsule daily with food (only if you tolerate it well the first week)
3. Week 3: advance to 2 capsules together daily with food, for at least 30 days.
4. If you want back off and stick to a maintenance dose, you can take 2 capsules together, 3-4 days per week.

If introducing this probiotic causes gas, bloating, changes in bowel movements, or cramping, it’s a sign that it’s working a little too much. This shouldn’t last more than few days. If tolerable, continue as described above. If it’s too uncomfortable or painful, back off the dose. Open the capsule and take ½ the content mixed in with any food (hot or cold) every other day, until your body adjusts. When symptoms subside, advance to the full capsule every other day, then slowly to 1 per day, and then finally to 2 per day. 

Do Probiotics Help with Gas, Bloating, Constipation, diarrhea or other problems?

While Megasporebiotic is effective and results in many health benefits, it’s not enough on its own to fix all your gut problems or eliminate pains or discomforts you’re dealing with. You need a comprehensive approach that includes identifying food sensitivities and the specific harmful microbes (bacteria, yeast, viruses, parasites, etc) that may be growing inside of you. That can only be done through specific functional medicine tests and gut balancing protocols where Megaspore is one of the steps.

Sometimes I add different or specific probiotics, depending on my patient’s medical history and diagnosis. Often, my clients results come incorporating other support like products to boost immunity, repair the gut lining, and “fertilize” the garden. I don’t recommend that you add more products without knowing exactly what you need as that may end up in wasting your time and money, and may be harmful.

If you have stomach pain, heartburn, reflux, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, or if you have Crohn’s, colitis or an other autoimmune condition, or if you have non-gut symptoms like fatigue, headaches, brain fog, hair loss, skin issues, or muscle and joint pain, there are other “problems” in your body and we need to address them. If you want to see how I can help you personalize repairing your gut so you can eliminate your specific problem(s), you can read about my program and what I do, and then you can book a Strategy Consultation call to explore how I can help you best.